


Star Studded Love

by PrincessPersephone123



Category: Actor RPF, Batgirl (Comics), DCU, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Actors, F/M, Falling In Love, Fame, Female Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Hollywood, Idiots in Love, Love, Sexual Tension, True Love, actress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-29
Packaged: 2020-02-29 22:49:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 49,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18787849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessPersephone123/pseuds/PrincessPersephone123
Summary: When Sebastian Stan meets Sashanya Silva, the famous actress and singer he finds that she is not like the other girls he has met.





	1. Chapter 1

"Is that the new fight coordinator?" asked Sebastian Stan eyeing the young man who was cockily boxing with another stunt person. 

"Yeah. His name is Albert." said Anthony Mackie rolling his eyes at the fight coordinator "According to the word around here, he is the best in the game."

"He doesn't seem very nice." said Tom Holland who piped into the conversation as he looked at the mean and scary looking man. 

"Hey, kid! Just be quiet and drink your juice box!" reprimanded Anthony shaking his head at Tom while Sebastian laughed. Anthony and Sebastian loved roasting Tom who was an easy target because of his innocence and kindness but they secretly liked him. 

They watched Albert box with the poor stuntman when suddenly the doors to the training studio opened up and in walked in the most beautiful woman that Sebastian had ever seen. She had dark, black hair which reached her shoulders, her skin was healthy and glowing, she wore dark black jeans, a classic white shirt and an olive green leather jacket which made her look fresh and radiant, she walked with confidence in her high heeled boots as she smiled slightly with her red lips while looking around observantly with her dark and curious eyes. She was accompanied by a man, taller than her with a beaming grin and messed up brown hair who was wearing a white t - shirt and ripped blue jeans and sneakers. He was chattering enthusiastically while the girl was quietly listening to him, nodding once in a while. Sebastian looked at them both in curiousity because he had never seen them before in his life and he certainly had not seen them around the studio when he was filming Avengers. 

"Damn!" whistled Anthony Mackie, impressed and surprised as he looked at the two newcomers voicing Sebastian's thoughts "Who dat?"

They watched as the girl and the boy watched Albert finish up the fight. The boy didn't look very impressed, in fact he was rolling his eyes at Albert and making sarcastic remarks to the girl who was smiling almost laughingly at Albert. Albert shook hands with the stunt person and then saw the girl looking at him and grinned at her. 

The girl smiled playfully at Albert with her sinfully red lips as she complimented him "You got some moves."

Albert walked towards the girl as he gave the girl a teasing smirk "Yeah? Why don't I take you home and show you some of those moves ... up close and personal?"

Tom huffed, almost as if he was trying to stop himself from laughing at Albert. The girl seemed flattered by Albert's attention as smiled teasingly and playfully at Albert, but the boy was not having it as he glared at him unimpressed and coldly, raising his eyebrows mockingly at the fight coordinator "That's funny. You really think you have a chance with her?"

Sebastian, Anthony and Tom could feel the tension rise between the boy and Albert as Albert looked at the boy with the messed up hair "And who are you?"

"I'm the guy who is going to punch the living daylights out of you, if you don't shut the hell up." said the boy coldly and Sebastian and Anthony assumed that this was the girl's boyfriend. 

Albert laughed at the boy "Why don't you come up here and try?"

The boy took a step forward but he was stopped by the girl who looked at him confidently "I got this."

The boy nodded at the girl and stepped to a side allowing her to walk into the training arena and the girl addressed Albert as she walked to take her place "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

Albert looked at her in fascination and interest when he realized that he was being challenged to a fight "I don't fight girls. Especially hot ones like you."

Sebastian thought that he heard Tom mutter "Lord help him" quietly under his breath but he ignored the kid as he looked at the girl. 

"Then I guess it's going to be really one - sided." said the girl with a laugh as she tossed her dark hair turning towards Albert and then suddenly she kicked him on the side of his left leg taking him by surprise, alarming Sebastian, Anthony and Tom. Before Albert could do anything, the girl had quickly and effortlessly kicked Albert on the neck and head, bringing him onto his knees as he groaned in pain. As Albert groaned in pain while kneeling, the girl caressed his cheek gently with a dangerous smile and quickly kicked his stomach, knocking him onto the floor. The boy with messy hair looked at Albert and shook his head at him pitifully. 

Then the girl walked towards Albert who lay on the floor and put the sole of her high heeled boot on his throat, applying enough pressure as to stop him from moving but giving him the ability to breathe. She looked at him and smiled at him playfully "Still want to take me home?"

"Hell, yeah!" thought Sebastian as he looked at her in awe. Then he shook his head at himself. What was he thinking? He didn't even know this girl. He didn't even know her name! He couldn't think like that. But the way she had her high heeled boot on the throat of that jerk while smiling confidently stirred something in Sebastian. 

Albert groaned and surrendered in defeat and the girl looked towards the boy who was grinning proudly at her. He was definitely her boyfriend, the way he smiled at her proudly, the way he highfived her in congratulations, the way he cheered and laughed with her. 

"DAMN GIRL!" cheered Anthony Mackie, his eyes wide in surprise and wonder "She is on fire!"

"Who is she?" asked Sebastian curiously as he looked at her and then at Anthony and Tom.

"I don't know, man." said Anthony shaking his head and shrugging "I've never seen her before."

They both looked at Tom who was extraordinarily quiet and Tom looked at them "What?"

"Kid, do you want to tell us something?" asked Anthony looking at Tom suspiciously.

"No, no, no, no." said Tom stuttering and then grinned "Look, you told me to keep quiet and that's what I'm doing."

"Oh now you keep quiet? A girl we've never seen before comes into our studio and beats the shit out of our fight coordinator - she's like Black Widow's sister!" said Anthony waving his hands wildly "And you know something about it and you want to keep quiet?"

"Look, if you want to know why don't you go introduce yourselves to her?" asked Tom from Anthony and Sebastian. "I'm assuming her bark isn't as worse as her bite."

"You calling her a bitch?" asked Anthony in a mock accusing tone, enjoying messing with Tom.

Tom's eyes widened in horror and he began shaking his head "No, no, no! I would never!"

Sebastian laughed at Tom and said "C'mon, let's go introduce ourselves."

Sebastian and Anthony walked towards the newcomers with Tom trailing slowly behind them. As they approached the newcomers, the girl and the boy saw them and smiled pleasantly at them. 

"Hey." greeted Anthony as he approached the girl and the boy and looked at the girl in the olive green leather jacket "Quite a show, you put up there."

"Oh yeah? You liked it?" asked the girl with a laugh.

"For once, it was good to see Albert getting beaten up." said Anthony honestly with a wink and the girl laughed while the boy chuckled.

"Is that his name?" asked the boy as he shook his head with an eye roll. 

"Yeah." nodded Anthony looking curiously at the two people who exuded confidence of stars "We haven't seen you around. Are you guys new?"

"You don't beat around the bush do you?" said the boy with an amused glint in his eyes "I'm Noah Centineo."

"Nice to meet you man." said Anthony, Sebastian and Tom as they greeted Noah and then Anthony's and Sebastian's eyes fell on the girl with an olive leather jacket "And what is your lovely name, darling?"

"Sashanya." said the girl with a smile as she offered her hand politely for them to shake "I'm Sashanya."

Anthony took her hand and kissed it lightly, making the girl laugh and roll her eyes. Sebastian rolled his eyes at Anthony and shook Sashanya's hand with a smile, marveling at her polite manners. Her hand was soft and calloused at the same time and Sebastian couldn't help but feel that their hands fit perfectly together. When it came to Tom, Sashanya grinned at Tom and Tom grinned at her as he squealed and launched himself on her, hugging her in a bone crushing hug. 

"TOM!" exclaimed Sebastian and Anthony together, scandalized and shocked at Tom's unexpected behavior.

"C'mon, man - you just met today!" exclaimed Anthony in exasperation as he pulled Tom away from Sashanya "Pull yourself together!"

But Sashanya was laughing and Tom was grinning and Sashanya smiled at Sebastian and Anthony "It's okay. I know Tom."

"You know him?" asked Sebastian looking at Tom and then Sashanya in surprise "You know the brat?"

"Yes, I do." said Sashanya with a laugh. 

"And I thought you were alright." said Anthony looking absolutely shocked. 

Sashanya laughed again "I'm guessing you don't like Tom very much."

"No, we hate him." said Sebastian and Anthony in a deadpan expression.

"Oh, come on!" said Tom in protest "Sashanya, Noah, this is Anthony Mackie the most annoying guy in the world and Sebastian Stan the most nicest guy."

"Nice to meet you." said Sashanya with a genuine smile and Noah repeated the same sentiments.

"Yeah, you guys are the Avengers!" said Noah in excitement "It's so cool we finally get to meet you!"

"You are really amazing." said Sashanya genuinely and kindly. 

"Thank you." said Sebastian with a smile "Are you actors too?"

"Yeah. We both act in the TV series 'Batgirl'." said Noah Centineo with a smile. 

"You are from the DC Universe?" asked Sebastian in surprise "What are you doing here?" 

"Oh wow! What a welcome!" said Sashanya with an amused laugh. 

"No, I mean - what I meant was this is Marvel and you are DC." said Sebastian trying to correct himself. "The two don't exactly - well -"

"Get along?" finished Sashanya with a knowing smile "Well, we were called here because Marvel has a project involving our cast and the Avengers cast. It's top secret, we weren't told very much about it."

"Speaking of the cast, where is everyone?" asked Noah looking around "Aren't they supposed to be here for the briefing meeting?"

"Well, they are probably here." said Sashanya as she took out her phone and opened it "I mean, we came early and decided to explore a bit. Oh, they're already here in the meeting room on the fifth floor."

"Do you know where that is?" asked Noah from Sebastian, Anthony and Tom. 

"Yeah, we could show you." said Anthony as he led the way "Marvel told us to come here but they never told us about a meeting. What do you think it's about?"

"I reckon it's regarding the global domination project they've been working on for so long." piped in Tom making Sashanya snort in laughter. 

"They need Batgirl for that, eh?" asked Sashanya nudging Tom.

Tom nudged Sashanya back playfully "Nah, they need Sashanya for that."


	2. Chapter 2

"I haven't booked anything crazy for you this week. Just a few interviews and appearances." said Mandy, Sashanya's manager to Sashanya as Sashanya sat on the chair while Adam applied the last finishing touches of make up to perfect her look "I know about what happened this week and -"

"Don't worry, I'm fine." snapped Sashanya not wanting Mandy to pity her and immediately felt guilt flood her "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"I know." said Mandy gently and Sashanya wondered how she had been so lucky to have Mandy as her manager "I just want you to be alright."

"I'm good." said Sashanya with a sigh as she looked at Mandy, her manager and Adam her make up artist and hair stylist "I promise."

"Well, you look good, girl!" said Adam with a grin making Sashanya laugh "You don't even need me to make you look perfect."

"Ah, you underestimate yourself, Adam." said Sashanya blowing Adam a kiss and looking at herself in the mirror "It's important to look your best, especially when you feel your worst."

"You remembered." said Adam in surprise and pride. 

"Of course, I remembered." said Sashanya looking at Adam "You told me it was the first rule of surviving Hollywood."

"And look how far you've come." remarked Mandy, a hint of pride evident in her voice. 

Sashanya looked at herself in the mirror and admired at how Adam had styled her up. She was wearing simple dark black jeans, a white silk sleeveless top, a bold red leather jacket, black high heeled boots and a simple black choker complimented with small pearl earrings. Adam had applied slight foundation, softly shaped her eyebrows with a slight curve by using a golden brownish eyebrow liner and applied her signature, classic red lipstick. Her hair was styled into a neat and classic ponytail and she looked powerful and strong, ready to take on the world.

Sashanya didn't look like the mess she felt inside and she hugged Adam for making her feel confident through her appearance even though she wasn't really feeling good today. 

Mandy was looking at her Apple Ipad and reading out "So, shooting scenes for your new Batgirl movie starts next week, are you up for it?"

"Yes." said Sashanya with a grin "Don't worry, I got it."

The new movie was the crossover with Batgirl and the Avengers. So when they all had gathered in the meeting room that day, Marvel and DC had announced a crossover where the cast of the Batgirl TV series and the Avengers get together and act on the next award winning block buster movie! It was something about the Avengers being transported through some timey wimey dimension thing to Gotham where they meet Batgirl and her friends Black Canary, Catwoman, Nightwing and Red Hood and help them to take down the corruption and criminality that flows through Gotham. It's goal was to unite all Marvel and DC fans but Sashanya knew that they didn't care about the fans. All they cared about was making huge amounts of money and this movie would guarantee them billions and billions of dollars, if it was acted, promoted and marketed right. 

"I'm not worried." said Mandy as Adam fussed over Sashanya "I want you to bring your A - Game. This isn't just a movie, this is a crossover between DC and Marvel. This is where the best of the best come together. You need to show them that you got this."

"I'm the lead role in this movie." said Sashanya adjusting her jacket "I think I already know all of that."

"Good." said Mandy nodding her head at Sashanya and then looked at the message she received on her phone "Let's go, Sashanya, the cameras are all set, the interview is about to begin."

Adam kissed Sashanya on her cheek wishing her good luck and Sashanya made her way through the busy set accompanied by Mandy. She saw that the the chosen cast of Avengers and the Batgirl cast had already taken seats and took a deep breath. 

Mandy looked at Sashanya "Go make me proud."

"Don't you mean, 'Go make me money'?" asked Sashanya with a grin.

"Shut up." said Mandy but she was smiling "Be a star."

Sashanya snorted at that as she made her way towards her cast who was already sitting down on their chairs. She greeted them with a grin"Good morning, hoes."

"Morning, Sashanya." said Noah as he smiled at her and Sashanya sat on the chair in the middle of her best friends Camren Bicondova and Chloe Grace Moretz who grinned at her.

"You're late." remarked her best friend Camren who played Catwoman. 

"Fashionably." said Sashanya as she made herself comfortable and Chloe and Camren snorted in laughter. 

Noah Centineo and Curren Walters was sitting in front of them and Curren turned back to greet Sashanya "Hey, what's up?"

"Just telling Sashanya that she should be more punctual." said Camren with a laugh. 

"I am punctual! I come to set earlier than the rest of you!" protested Sashanya making all of them laugh "I just slept in a little today that's all."

Sashanya looked at the Avengers cast where Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans were sitting and chatting with each other comfortably while looking at the 'Batgirl' cast in curiousity. Tom gave a friendly wave to Sashanya and Sashanya waved back with a smile. The 'Batgirl' cast looked at the Avengers nervously and looked at each other.

"Anyone else feel like the new kid in school surrounded by the bunch of popular, rich kids?" asked Curren gulping nervously. 

Sashanya opened her bottle of water "Just chill, it'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say!" retorted Curren, to the amusement of Sashanya "You're a three time Oscar winning actress!"

"I know. Please make it stop." said Sashanya sarcastically making Noah, Camren and Chloe chuckle.

"It's the Avengers!" whispered Curren in awe and nervousness "Aren't you at least a little bit nervous?"

"I'm kinda freaking out. My palms are sweating." confessed Noah wiping his palms on his jeans.

"I know." said Camren looking at Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan "They are all so fucking hot!"

"Mmmhm, is anyone hungry because there is a full course meal right in front of us!" remarked Chloe flirtily and Camren and Curren burst into laughter while Noah and Sashanya looked scandalized and amused. 

"Keep it in your pants, Chloe!" said Sashanya in amusement 

"C'mon, you can't deny it. They are daddy matireal." said Chloe looking at Sashanya who was drinking water. 

Sashanya started choking on her water and Chloe patted her on the back. Noah looked at the two best friends in amusement "Please don't say things like that in the interview. We have to make a good impression."

Chloe rolled her eyes at Noah playfully "Yes dad."

Everyone laughed and Noah rolled his eyes at Chloe. At that moment they were interrupted by a girl who came to adjust the mics onto them. The girl adjusted the mics onto Chloe, Camren, Sashanya at first and then lastly attached the mics to Curren and Noah while flirting with them outrageously. Camren, Chloe and Sashanya watched in amusement as the girl flirted with their friends. Curren flirted back harmlessly while Noah was polite to her trying not to lead her on. Camren and Chloe occasionally made a remark that helped the girl flirt with Curren and Noah and Sashanya took pity on the boys and helped them out. Afterwards the director gave them the instructions as to how the interview was going to take place and Sashanya saw Mandy give her a thumbs up and then heard the familiar yell of "Lights, Camera, Action!"

"Hey everyone!" began Sashanya as she smiled dazzlingly at the cameras "We're the cast of -"

"BATGIRL!" yelled Noah, Curren, Camren, Chloe and Sashanya and the actors in the Avengers cast smiled and chuckled at their enthusiasm and energy. 

Then the actors sitting in front of the Batgirl cast said together "And we're the cast of Avengers!"

"And today we will be getting to know each other!" said Robert Downey Jr. in a charismatic manner as the camera focused on him.

Everybody started cheering and clapping and laughing and Sashanya felt strong and positive energy radiate throughout the room. Perhaps today wasn't going to be as bad as she thought it was going to be. 

"So we should probably introduce ourselves." said Robert Downey Jr. and everyone in the room laughed "I'm Robert and I play Iron Man."

"I'm Chris Evans and I play Captain America." said Chris with a positively beautiful smile and everyone clapped enthusiastically. Sashanya heard Chloe and Camren swoon beside her and she suppressed a grin.

"I'm Benedict Cumberbatch and I play Doctor Strange." said Benedict, his British accent strong and evident. Sashanya fangirled silently at seeing Benedict Cumberbatch right in front of her. She was a big fan of Benedict and his work had always inspired and meant a lot to her personally and professionally. He was one of the actors she looked up to in the industry and he seemed like a genuinely nice human being.

"I'm Anthony Mackie but ya'll can call me Hot Chocolate." said Anthony with a mischievous wink and everyone started laughing "I play Falcon which is the best character."

Sebastian shook his head at Anthony and introduced himself with a small smile "I'm Sebastian Stan. I play The Winter Soldier."

Sashanya smiled at Sebastian Stan. She thought that out of all the cast members, he was the most chill and reserved one of all. Sashanya took an instant liking to Sebastian Stan, perhaps it was his composed demeanor, his pretty smile or his blue leather jacket but there was something about him that made him different from the others. 

"I'm Scarlett. I play Black Widow." said Scarlett Johansson and she was immediately greeted with yells of 'YAAASS QUEEN!', loud cheering and adoring clapping from the Batgirl cast. Scarlett laughed as she blushed a little at the attention and admiration she was getting from the young cast. 

Tom grinned at Sashanya, Noah, Curren, Camren and Chloe "I'm Tom Holland. I play Spiderman."

Anthony Mackie started booing and Sebastian Stan joined in, the cast of Avengers started laughing, Curren and Noah began singing the Spiderman theme song and Camren and Chloe started chuckling while Sashanya grinned fondly at Tom as she gave him a thumbs up. 

"I'm Curren Walters. I play Jason Todd also known as the Red Hood." said Curren with a smirk. 

"I'm Noah Centineo. I play Nightwing." said Noah with a grin and then paused as if he was thinking of saying something and then thought better of it.

Camren, Chloe and Sashanya knew exactly what he was thinking and exchanged mischievous grins at each other. Camren looked at Noah who was in front of her. 

"Darling, don't you want to tell what Nightwing's real name is?" 

"Not really, no." said Noah, knowing that Camren would not let it go and then said with a sigh "Richard Grayson."

"Don't be such a Dick." said Chloe with a giggle. 

"Don't be a dick, Dick Grayson." said Sashanya with a laugh joining in the fun as other began to laugh.

"Dude, you play a character named Dick?" asked Tom disbelievingly while laughing.

"His name is Richard!" protested Noah looking at Sashanya, Camren, and Chloe who had started this mess in the first place, laughing uncontrollably.

"Yeah but like everyone calls you Dick." said Curren with a mischievous smirk. 

"Can we move on please?" asked Noah with a groan, amidst the laughter of everyone "Camren, care to introduce yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm Camren and I play Catwoman." said Camren with a friendly smile while Chloe made meowing noises and Sashanya shushed her. 

"I'm Chloe Grace Moretz and I play Black Canary." said Chloe in an easy going and laid back manner and then looked at Sashanya.

"I'm Sashanya and I play Batgirl." said Sashanya with a bright smile and everyone started hooting and clapping and cheering while Sashanya blushed and laughed lightly. 

"Alright, let's get this party started!" yelled Anthony pumping his fist in the air and everyone nodded and cheered in approval.

"So basically, we have fan questions here with us and we're going to be asking these questions from you." said Scarlett as she showed them the cards with the fan questions on it. 

"And we also have fan questions that we are going to ask from the cast of the Avengers." said Noah as he looked at the questions "It's going to be fun!"

"Shall we begin?" asked Benedict Cumberbatch elegantly and politely.

Everyone cheered in approval and Scarlett read out the first question "This question is from Landon from California. What was the last practical joke played among the Batgirl cast?"

"Ooooohh!!!" said Camren, Chloe, Sashanya, Curren and Noah together in unison and Noah looked thoughtful "That is a good question."

"We've played so many pranks ... it's hard to choose." said Noah looking back at Camren, Chloe and Sashanya "But you three are the pranksters on set."

"Yes, we are." said Camren proudly and then looked at Chloe and Sashanya "Is the one with the champagne and -"

"No, no, no!" said Chloe quickly placing her hand over Camren's mouth to shut her up "That's the one we were planning!"

"Ooops sorry, my bad." said Camren with a shrug, as she smiled at the laughing cast of the Avengers.

"The last practical joke on set was - well -" began Sashanya with a reminiscent smile "We had just finished shooting this really important scene and Chloe was like 'give me a dare, give me a dare!' because she's a six year old trapped inside the body of an adult woman." Chloe and Camren giggled and Sashanya continued while laughing "So we were like 'stand up in front of everybody and announce to everybody that you are pregnant'. And it was deadly quiet and Chloe did it and everyone literally believed it."

"Oh I remember. We had fans on set and the extras." said Camren nodding with a grin as everybody started laughing "Like everyone went bonkers, the fans started crying and clapping and the extras were super supportive and - and -"

"And it got to the point where even like the director and the producers came up to me and congratulated me." said Chloe with a laugh "And it was getting out of control, so we were like we have to put a stop to this and we told them it was a joke - and then the rest of the day was very awkward."

"It was weird." said Sashanya and Chloe and Camren hummed in agreement. 

"Where was I?" asked Curren wide eyed as he listened to the story.

"You weren't there that day." said Sashanya with a shrug "You weren't there for the whole week because you didn't have scenes with us that week."

"Oh yeah." said Curren remembering it.

"It was awkward." said Noah with a grin and everyone burst into laughter "So there you go, that was the last practical joke played by the Batgirl cast."

"Man, I can't wait to see what kind of pranks you'll play on us." said Chris Evans with a laugh 

"Go big or go home is the motto when it comes to playing pranks." said Curren with a grin making everyone chuckle.

"So this question is from Shannon from Brooklyn." began Noah as he read the question "Which Avengers cast member would you rate the perfect ten?"

"OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!" said Camren, Chloe and Sashanya sassily together and burst into giggles. 

"Oh, that's really controversial." said Scarlett as she burst out laughing. 

"I think it's Sebastian. Sea Bass." said Anthony with a huge shiteating grin looking at Sebastian who smiled in amusement "With his piercing blue eyes and Greek God looks."

"I feel like it's a tie between Benedict and Chris." said Robert raising his eyebrows at the two men who started laughing. 

"It's a Chris from me." said Camren in her best Simon Cowell impression and everyone chuckled. 

"Benedict is pretty solid." said Chloe in her Mel B impression. 

"What is this? America's Got Talent?" asked Sashanya raising her eyebrows at her two best friends incredulously. 

"Oh, Avengers Got Talent!" said Tom with a grin and Sashanya shook her head at him in amusement while everyone started laughing.

"That is a great idea for a reality TV show." said Sebastian with a light laugh. 

"Nick Fury being the judge." said Anthony mischievously and everyone started laughing.

Benedict read out the next question in his clear and soothing voice "Christina from London asks which member of the Batgirl cast could you be tied to for a week?"

"Well, that's a bit of a private question, isn't it?" asked Sashanya with a smirk and immediately everyone started laughing in surprise because Sashanya seemed so innocent. 

"You kinky little cow!" exclaimed Curren looking at Sashanya as he winked at her. 

"Sashanya, you minx!" said Camren while Chloe and Noah were helplessly laughing "Dirty!"

Sashanya relaxed as she laughed as well and Noah looked at his cast members "None of you! I can't stand you!"

"I BEG YOUR PARDON!" screeched Sashanya in mock disbelief and anger making Camren, Chloe and Curren roll around in laughter while the Avengers cast laughed at their stupid antics. 

Noah laughed and began "Now that's a really hard question. Curren because he and I, we're buddies and we have fun together. Camren because she's mad and she would have me in fits of laughter everyday. Chloe because she is positive and bright, and -" Noah looked at Sashanya who was smiling fondly at Noah "You because you're funny and smart and we get on really well with each other."

Noah paused and smiled cutely "So I really don't know who I would choose."

"We'd all get along together chained!" said Curren to Noah. 

Noah nodded and Camren rolled her eyes sarcastically "We already are. We are all dogs on a leash!" 

They all broke into laughter and Curren read out the next question "This question is from Sheila from L.A. Do you have any hidden talents?" 

"I can do impressions." said Benedict and everyone murmured in agreement and approval "Though I don't know whether it's a hidden talent."

"I can do my leg workout." said Anthony making everyone laugh. "Not trying to brag but these thighs don't make themselves."

"Thighs are the most important part of the body." said Sebastian solemnly but he was suppressing his laughter. 

"Yeah, exactly." said Anthony with a grin "The ladies love them!"

Everyone laughed at Anthony's ridiculousness and Robert read the next question "If you could go anywhere for any week without anyone disturbing you, where would you be and why?"

"I would go to .... Narnia." said Camren thoughtfully but her lips were twitching and Chloe and Sashanya burst into loud laughter. 

"I love Hogwarts!" said Chloe giggling as she lay her head on Sashanya's shoulder while everyone laughed.

"Middle Earth!" said Noah with a grin, joining in the fun. 

"Wonderland!" added Curren with a laugh. 

"Gotham!" said Sashanya her eyes twinkling with fun and mischief and Noah, Curren, Camren and Chloe laughed at her remark. 

"Dream destination!" remarked Camren and Sashanya grinned. 

"I'd probably go to ...... " said Curren as he bit his lip "I don't know."

"Port Aventura." completed Sashanya with a smile.

"Oh yeah!" said Curren highfiving Sashanya and then looked at her in surprise "Wait, how do you know that?"

"You keep blabbering about how it's the greatest place on earth all the time." said Camren rolling her eyes at Curren "We all know."

Curren stuck his tongue out childishly at Camren who rolled her eyes at her and the rest of them laughed. 

Chloe began reading the next question "Oh wow. This is a really important question, so get ready."

"Oh no." said Sebastian rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Sashanya and Camren who peeked at the question started giggling and Chloe began reading "David from Florida asks ... Would you rather trip in front of millions of people or fart in an interview?"

"WOOOOOTTT?" asked Tom Holland in surprise as he started laughing. 

"What kind of question is that?" asked Scarlet with a laugh. 

"Definitely fart during an interview." said Anthony confidently making everyone laugh "Because like when you trip in front of millions of people it's like embarrassing but you can't see a fart."

"Silent but lethal!" said Robert with a chuckle at Anthony who nodded in agreement. 

Tom smiled as he read the next question amidst the good - hearted laughter "This question is from Cherry from Sacramento. What song would come as your soundtrack if you were to get into a fight?"

"I have terrible memories of Cherry." began Camren solemnly and seriously, startling and puzzling the cast of the Avengers and getting the attention of Sashanya, Chloe, Noah and Curren "My mother used to give me cherry pie every day -"

But she got no further because Sashanya and Chloe had burst into laughter at Camren's remarks and Noah looked at them in exasperation and amusement "Don't say that! Don't say that! It's her name!"

"A thick slice of cherry pie and a glass of milk every day of my school life." said Camren shaking her head as she grinned at everyone laughing loudly. 

"Don't say that!" protested Noah helplessly but he was chuckling too. 

Chloe was giggling and Sashanya was bent over, laughing helplessly. Chloe tried to control her giggles as she said "I actually like cherry pie."

"I love your mother's cherry pie." said Sashanya wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, not seeing Sebastian smile at her. "With a bit of whipped cream, sometimes ice cream." 

Curren shook his head at the three girls who were chuckling together as he said "I would say - I don't know. We've never been asked this question."

"It's a good question, though." said Noah as he smiled at Curren.

"Probably, - I'd like my soundtrack to be the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack." said Chloe and everyone nodded in approval. 

"I love that." said Camren nodding her head in agreement "Mine would probably be - what's that song -" Camren looked at Sashanya, trying to remember "Oh, the Nae - Nae song!"

"That's a terrible soundtrack!" said Noah looking at Camren. 

"Hey it's my fight!" said Camren challengingly "So I can choose my own goddamn soundtrack!"

"Have you heard um - Zack Hempsey?" asked Sashanya looking at her friends "He has this soundtrack called 'See What I've Become' and it's so badass. It gives me chills whenever I listen to it."

"So that would be your soundtrack?" asked Sebastian with a thoughtful smile.

"Yes." said Sashanya with a grin. 

"Your music taste is so weird." said Curren with a grin.

"Shut up." retorted Sashanya affectionately ruffling Curren's hair. 

Camren grinned at Sashanya and Camren and read out the next question "What was the hardest part about filming the avengers?" 

"The hardest part was filming without like a proper script." began Tom, eager to talk about his difficulties "They never give the script to me."

"That's because you can't keep your mouth shut, kid." said Anthony ready to roast the hell out of Tom.

"You just hand out spoilers left and right." said Benedict with a sympathetic smile. 

"But like I just got my lines, that's it. I don't even know who I'm acting opposite of." said Tom and Sashanya smiled at him "But I think Benedict got the full script."

"That's because Bernard can be trusted." drawled Sebastian with a smile and everyone started laughing. 

Sebastian then smiled sweetly at Sashanya who felt heat creep up her neck but smiled back at him and read out the next question "Diana from Toronto asks I've been suffering with anxiety and I have go through panic attacks. When you're nervous what do you do to calm yourself?"

"That sucks." murmured Curren and Noah nodded solemnly.

Sebastian noticed that Camren and Chloe looked at Sashanya and Sashanya cleared her throat "Well, I have anxiety as well - it's gotten better through the years - and well, um - I did go through a lot of panic attacks so I do understand what you're going through, Diana. I - well whenever I have a panic attack I just try - to clear my mind - to - well, first thing I do is try to hold on tight to something and then breathe in and out until it gets better. Trust me, I know it feels like you're going to die but - but what you've got to do - and what I do is I remind myself that this has happened to me before and I have got through it, so I can get through this one as well. And - um - for me - it helps to have a cup of tea afterwards and - well - talk to someone who I'm very close with - so usually it's my mum or sister. Or Camren and Chloe."

Everyone was silently listening to Sashanya and Sashanya smiled tightly "Just hold on, Diana. I know it sucks but don't give up."

Chloe and Camren suddenly started hugging Sashanya yelling "WE LOVE YOU!" 

Sashanya tried to remove herself from the loving and bonecrushing embrace of her best friends who she secretly loved "Oh get off me!"

"NO!" said Camren stubbornly making everyone laugh. 

"Someone help!" said Sashanya trying to wrestle off Chloe and Camren "I can't breathe!"

"Don't exaggerate." said Chloe with a grin as Camren and her broke the hug "We know you love us."

"I hate you." said Sashanya with a grin and Chloe and Camren laughed. 

"We love you too."

"Okay, shall I ask the next question?" asked Sashanya with a bright grin and everyone cheered in approval "Oh, this is the last question for the Avengers. Lee from Philadelphia asks if you could be any Avenger besides yourself who would it be?"

"I would be Spiderman because I would make that movie way better than Tom." said Anthony with a grin and Tom started laughing while Sebastian cheered for Anthony. 

"Shots fired!" cheered Sebastian clapping while laughing. 

"I would like to be Captain America." said Benedict smiling and Chris smiled at Benedict.

"I'd like to be Black Widow." said Robert making everybody laughed. 

"I'd like to be Bucky." said Scarlett and Sebastian highfived her. 

"So this is the last question for the Batgirl cast." said Chris with a smile as he read out the question "Nate from Melbourne asks what is something you love doing in your free time?"

"I like eating fish and chips." said Camren with a blissful sigh. "I just love it!"

"Kissing Daniel." suggested Chloe to Camren as she looked at her best friend.

Camren nodded, thinking lovingly of her boyfriend and then Curren added mischievously "Facetiming Daniel."

"Yeah." began Camren in agreement but Noah decided to join the fun. 

"Texting Daniel." said Noah with a grin. 

"Snogging the living daylights out of Daniel." said Sashanya as she suppressed her laughter. 

"OH SHUT UP!" yelled Camren in exasperation making Noah, Curren, Chloe and Sashanya burst into laughter. 

"She is so in love with Daniel!" said Sashanya laughing as she clapped her hands. 

"Someone pass the sick bucket!" said Curren laughing teasingly along with everyone. 

Camren was also laughing and then began to say as she looked at her best friends "What about Kate? What about Shawn? -"

Sashanya placed her hand over Camren's mouth to shut her up while laughing helplessly with Chloe, Noah and Curren because Camren had just revealed their crushes. 

Curren was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes as he said "Oh my god, Camren, you just revealed everything."

"Oh no!" said Chloe as she laughed "But I think they already know about Kate and I - so -"

"Next time, we aren't telling you anything!" said Sashanya with a laugh 

"I can see Mandy already ready to do damage control." said Noah in amusement, looking at Sashanya's manager who looked exasperated at the three girls antics.

"Oh dear." sighed Sashanya "We should never do interviews together."

"You don't say." said Anthony in amusement "You three are trouble."

"Only when we're together." said Camren with a grin making everyone laugh. 

"It's been brilliant!" said Noah seeing the director signal him to end it "Hasn't it?"

"Yeah, it's been fun! You guys are fun to hang out with." said Scarlett smiling at the Batgirl cast happily. 

"Awww, we love you too!" said Curren emotionally making everyone laugh. 

"It's been so much fun getting to know each other and a big thank you to the fans who sent us these amazing questions!" said Chris and everyone nodded in agreement "Don't worry, there is more to come and we'll see you guys soon!"

"BYEEEE!!!" said everyone enthusiastically waving at the cameras together and then the director cut it.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebastian had turned up for the first day of shooting the movie and so far it had gone pretty well. He had finished his scenes for the day and now he was watching alongside with Robert, Tom, Benedict, Scarlett, Chris and Anthony, the new actors Sashanya perform the last scenes for the day with Noah and Curren. And they were good. For all their silliness and stupidity, the cast of Batgirl was incredibly talented in bringing life to their characters and absolutely dedicated and hardworking. Sashanya, Curren, Noah, Camren and Chloe got along really well together and it showed when they performed, how they played off each other's strengths, improvising whenever they could and bringing something genuine and authentic into the movie. Their chemistry was brilliant and they really outdid themselves every single time. Sashanya, Camren and Chloe had, had a couple of scenes at first and they really bought their mischievous, fun and soulful sisterhood into the relationships between their characters, Batgirl, Black Canary and Catwoman. After a few takes, they finished their scenes together and Noah and Curren joined Sashanya for the final scenes of the day. 

Sebastian watched the three of them perform in sync, as they played off and encouraged each other's energy, enthusiasm and talent. It was visible to everyone watching that the three of them had great chemistry together and it was obvious to everyone why these actors had been casted for these particular roles. But to Sebastian, Sashanya stood out amidst Noah and Curren. There was something about Sashanya that made her different from everyone else. There was that raw authenticity, incredible passion, great energy, endless hard work and enduring dedication that made Sashanya stand out in her performance. Sebastian understood that Sashanya was no ordinary actress. He had soon learnt that Sashanya was an actress who had shot to legendary fame through her brilliant and heart moving performances in her countless movies and TV shows. Sashanya was also a singer with a passionate, rich, soulful and clear voice that sang her own heartfelt written songs which had moved people around the world into tears and smiles. She had innumerable awards for her performances and contributions to the areas of acting, music and humanitarian services. Sashanya was a shining, inextinguishable star who was followed everywhere by flashing cameras and devoted fans. 

And yet, to Sebastian, she was just so humble and kind. There wasn't a conceited bone in that girl's body. Sashanya was the one of the very first actors on set, kind to everyone who she worked with, worked really hard with patience and dedication and she really loved what she did. She never boasted or bragged, she was thoughtful and quiet sometimes but when she spoke she was intelligent, kind and witty. And when she performed ... she was a star. 

He watched as Sashanya acted her role as Batgirl perfectly and right now she was glaring at Curren who was playing Red Hood. 

"Oh c'mon!" said Curren putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head at Noah and Sashanya "What did I ever do to you for you to hate me this much?"

"You tried to kill us!" said Sashanya looking at Curren in disbelief as she folded her arms defiantly while Noah who played Nightwing stood by her calmly.

"Well, that was just my way of getting to know you." retorted Curren with a smirk and for a moment Sashanya looked annoyed and then after a moment's silence Curren, Noah and Sashanya burst into laughter, breaking characters.

"What the hell?" asked Noah, shaking his head at Curren "That was not in the script."

"I know, I improvised." said Curren as he laughed. 

"What is - oh my god!" said Sashanya laughing "That was - so funny!"

Curren pulled Sashanya and Noah into a hug and then he smiled at the director "Hey, really sorry about that. Can we do the take again?"

The director laughed at their ridiculousness and the three of them started again as if they had not broken their characters at all. They continued acting out the conversation between Batgirl, Nightwing and Red Hood going through the lines of the script and sometimes improvising and finally they finished their scene. 

"So are you in or out?" asked Nightwing solemnly from Red Hood.

"Well, then I'm out!" exclaimed Red Hood shaking his head. 

"Too bad, you're in." said Nightwing with a grin. 

"Then why the hell did you ask me?" asked Red Hood looking at Nightwing incredulously. 

"Because I thought you would be like 'I'm in Dick!' and we would have had a really cool moment but you had to go and ruin it." said Nightwing childishly.

"Son of -" began Red Hood, ready to swear but Batgirl interrupted in a pleasant voice with a hint of annoyance.

"Great! Got my two favorite boys and a city full of corruption!" said Batgirl with a smile as she put her arms around Red Hood and Nightwing "Let's save Gotham!" 

"CUT!!!" yelled the director and Sashanya, Noah and Curren broke characters by relaxing and smiling "That was great! Well done, you three! That's the last scene for today! Thank you and see you all tomorrow!"

Sashanya, Noah and Curren hugged each other and then made their way to the rest of the cast where they were greeted and welcomed by everyone. Then Sashanya went her way to remove the Batgirl suit because she had been wearing it all day and she was sweating like crazy and it was beginning to get uncomfortable. She removed off the Batgirl suit with the help of her staff and washed off all the make up and then got into a cleaner and comfortable outfit and tied her hair up into a messy bun. She made her way back to where everyone was chatting with each other and she saw that Noah and Curren had gotten into their normal clothes too. 

"Hey." said Curren greeting his friend as Sashanya approached him "Going home?"

"Probably. Why?" asked Sashanya with a tired smile. 

"A couple of us were thinking of grabbing drinks." said Anthony with a grin "There's a real cool, low key bar nearby and we thought we would go."

"Oh cool." said Sashanya shrugging "Who's coming?"

"Sebastian, Tom, Noah, Curren, Camren, Chloe and me." said Anthony "You coming?"

"Yeah, I could use a drink." agreed Sashanya, although she really wanted to go home and sleep, a strong drink sounded really good. 

Sashanya, Sebastian, Tom, Noah, Curren, Camren, Anthony and Chloe were soon sitting inside a very cool bar eating chicken wings and drinking, talking and laughing. They got along well easily and soon they were telling each other anecdotes and funny stories, making each other laugh. It was a very fun time and Sashanya enjoyed getting to know Anthony and Sebastian. They had a good sense of humor and smart remarks that lightened the atmosphere. As everyone talked and drank, Sashanya sipped her second margarita and felt her phone vibrate with a message. 

She opened Whatsapp and her heart thudded loudly when she saw who the message was from. She opened the message and read it. 

Jamie : Hey. 

Jamie : How are you?

Jamie : I heard you're back in New York.

Jamie : I was wondering if you're free we could hang out?

Jamie : Maybe I could take you out to dinner that awesome diner we used to go together?

Sashanya stared blankly at her phone, unable to process what was happening. She felt all the emotions she thought that she had left behind rush through her again and she felt a lump of emotion form in her throat. 

"Hey." said a gentle, familiar voice startling Sashanya "You okay?"

Sashanya looked to see Sebastian looking at her in concern and she smiled reassuringly "Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure?" asked Sebastian looking at her "You seem pretty upset."

"No." said Sashanya swallowing the lump in her throat and smiling "I mean - it's nothing - trust me."

Maybe it was because she was tired or maybe it was because of the way Sebastian looked at her in genuine concern that Sashanya shook her head tiredly "It's nothing. I mean - it's my ex - boyfriend. He has texted me after so many years - I just was taken by surprise ... that's all." 

"Oh." said Sebastian in surprise and Sashanya thought she saw mild annoyance in his face "What does he want?" 

"To get back together." said Sashanya confidently as she finished up her margarita. Jamie may have invited her for dinner but she knew what he really wanted. He didn't just invite her to hang out and catch up on the good times. He always had a purpose behind his actions and Sashanya knew that very well. 

"That sounds great." said Sebastian, trying to be supportive and then saw Sashanya's deadpanned expression "But I'm guessing you don't really want to do that?" 

"No." said Sashanya as she switched off her phone and tucked it into her pocket "I've moved on from him. It took me a long time but I finally did it. And I don't want to go back."

Sashanya looked at Sebastian who was looking at her thoughtfully "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does. You don't want to live in the past. I get that." said Sebastian with an understanding smile "But he sounds like he hasn't moved on."

"Well, I'm not surprised." said Sashanya with a mischievous smile "I am once - in - a - lifetime kind of woman."

Sashanya chuckled as Sebastian laughed in surprise "You're very surprising."

"Oh yeah?" asked Sashanya as she ordered another margarita "What about me is surprising?"

"I don't know." said Sebastian thoughtfully as he looked at Sashanya with a smile "Everything, I guess. But that's good because I like surprises."

Sashanya smiled as she sipped her margarita not knowing what to say and they both stayed quietly in each other's company for a few moments. 

Then Sebastian spoke up "Your hair .... it's different."

"Oh yeah." said Sashanya as she twirled one of the strands of her hair. What once had been dark, silky, raven black hair was now a glowing ginger auburn color. "Batgirl is a redhead so they dyed it. It'll probably wash off in a few weeks."

Sebastian grinned at Sashanya "I never thought I'd say this but you look hot as a redhead."

"Thank you Sebastian." said Sashanya feeling a blush creep up her cheeks "Nice to know that you have a thing for redheads."

"Who doesn't have a thing for redheads?" asked Sebastian with a mischievous grin "But you look gorgeous in your natural dark hair. It makes you look mysterious."

Sashanya threw back her head and laughed "Are you drunk? I think this is the first time someone complimented my dark hair as mysterious."

"Well, it's true!" protested Sebastian as he smiled at Sashanya laughing "Anyway, no matter what your hair looks like, you are really pretty."

Sashanya smiled shyly because even after all these years in the spotlight being showered with compliments, she still didn't know how to smoothly handle people who complimented her. She felt like a complete idiot.

Sebastian laughed at how adorable Sashanya looked when she was shy and Sashanya shoved Sebastian playfully. Sashanya felt light and relaxed around Sebastian as she grinned and sipped on her drink. 

"I really want to sleep all day tomorrow." remarked Sashanya absentmindedly with a smile "But I can't."

"You're like the earliest on set. Maybe you can come in a little late tomorrow." said Sebastian.

"I can't." said Sashanya shaking her head and when Sebastian looked at her questioningly Sashanya explained "I like being early. It helps me to clear my mind, get ready and shake off my nerves."

"I get that." said Sebastian with a grin "But, it's good to be nervous. Means that you care about what you're doing."

"Yeah that's true." said Sashanya and finished her drink "God, I think I've had enough for one night."

"It's just two drinks." said Sebastian amused at Sashanya. "You've hardly begun!"

"No, no, I've got work tomorrow!" said Sashanya standing up "I don't want to turn up hungover at work tomorrow. I wouldn't be able to focus properly."

"You're such a professional!" said Sebastian raising his eyebrows at her mischievously.

"Is that the nice way of calling me boring?" asked Sashanya with a grin and Sebastian began to protest but she laughed it off "Relax, I'm just kidding."

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya and she smiled back at him "Well, this has been awesome but I've got to go home."

"Let me walk you out." said Sebastian graciously as he stood up and walked towards her.

"Oh, I don't think that's really necessary." began Sashanya hesitantly and Sebastian's face fell and changed into a look of disappointment. She felt horrible and quickly tried to explain what she really meant "I mean - I would love that but the paparazzi are outside and you don't want to be caught up in that mess."

"I can handle the paparazzi!" said Sebastian with relief, laughing lightly.

"I know, but they are brutal." said Sashanya seriously, in a tone of a person who had gone through that particular experience countless times and knew what she was talking about "It's - it's not pleasant. I don't want you to go through that."

Sebastian looked at Sashanya, a sudden and surprising warmth blossoming in his chest at the girl's genuine concern for him. He felt himself smile shyly at her "You don't have to worry."

"I know." said Sashanya with a small smile "But I do."

Sebastian smiled at her and Sashanya nodded at him "So, I'll just quickly call my driver and then we'll get out of here."

"Sounds good." replied Sebastian with a thumbs up and Sashanya was on her phone, talking to her driver, giving him the instructions in a low tone. She quickly finished the call and they both said their goodbyes to Curren, Noah, Camren, Chloe and Anthony who were pretty drunk and laughing loudly. Camren and Chloe looked concerned and asked Sashanya whether she needed any help getting home but Sashanya assured them that she could handle it. Sashanya also pretended to ignore the meaningful eyebrow waggle that Anthony Mackie was giving to an exasperated and blushing Sebastian Stan. 

They said their goodbyes and made their way to exit the bar but before Sebastian could take a step to leave the bar, Sashanya said "Take my hand and ignore everyone else."

"What?" asked Sebastian taken aback at her straightforwardness but Sashanya had wasted no time and had grabbed Sebastian's hand and held it tightly and firmly in hers. She then looked at him apologetically "I'm really sorry about all of this."

The door opened and they stepped out together and suddenly Sebastian and Sashanya were surrounded by flashing and blinding lights and loud questions yelled by the paparazzi.

"Sashanya? Sashanya? Look over here darling!" 

"Is that Sebastian Stan?"

"Why are you holding hands with Sebastian, Sashanya?"

"C'mon doll, give us a smile!"

"Sashanya, are you dating Sebastian Stan?"

"Sashanya, do you know Jamie's back in New York?"

"Sashanya, would you ever get back with Jamie?"

"Sashanya do you know Chloe is gay? How does that make you feel?"

"Are you jealous of Kate? Because she's Chloe's girlfriend and not you?"

"Are you and Lili Reinhart feuding over Cole Sprouse?"

"Come on darling, lift up your shirt!"

It was madness! That was the only way Sebastian could describe it. He had gone through the experience of dealing with paparazzi many, many, many times but this was out of the world. This was on a whole another level of crazy! It was intense and mad and Sebastian and Sashanya kept their heads low and mouths shut as they navigated through the crowds. The paparazzi flocked around Sashanya, like hungry vultures circling around the innocent prey snapping so many pictures and yelling loud and inappropriate questions and comments. Sebastian felt Sashanya tighten her grip around his hand and pull him closer to her and he saw that four bodyguards had appeared and was trying their best to protect Sashanya and Sebastian while guiding them to the car. Sashanya pulled Sebastian closer to her and guided him through the flashing lights, wrestling through the photographers and videographers who were grabbing onto her. Sebastian and Sashanya quickly got into the car and shut the door, shutting out and driving away from the craziness and madness outside.

Sebastian was silent for a moment, trying to process everything that had just happened and finally he settled for "Wow."

"Wow, indeed." said Sashanya who was looking at Sebastian in concern "You alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I should be asking you that though. They gave you a pretty hard time out there." said Sebastian looking at Sashanya who smiled tiredly "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." said Sashanya as she opened a water bottle and offered it to Sebastian "I'm used to it."

Sebastian gulped down some water and looked at Sashanya feeling awful that she had gotten use to such a crazy environment "Really?"

"Well -" paused Sashanya as she opened another water bottle and drank it "I'm mostly used to it. It's surreal and crazy and intense. I don't think I'll ever get completely used to it though."

"It's mad! Madder than I've gone through." said Sebastian and Sashanya laughed.

"Eh, it's like that." said Sashanya with a shrug "They say it's part of the job, right?"

"What do you say?" asked Sebastian 

Sashanya seemed genuinely surprised at the question "Me?" Sebastian nodded in affirmation and Sashanya sighed as she ran her hand through her auburn hair messing it up even more "I don't like it. Taking pictures is fine but there's a line between doing the job and being a creepy asshole who harasses people." 

Sashanya looked at Sebastian "But - I try really hard to keep the spotlight on me. I mean - I try to keep my family and friends out of this shitstorm by making those idiots focus on me. I can go through it but I don't want them to go through this."

Sashanya looked at Sebastian who was looking at her quietly and shook her head "Sorry. I must sound like a conceited idiot, right now."

"No." said Sebastian softly and Sashanya looked to see Sebastian wearing a gentle and understanding expression "I think you're selfless and caring."

Sashanya smiled at Sebastian who smiled back at her and then after a few moments of silence, Sashanya's phone rang and she rolled her eyes when she saw who it was and didn't answer. 

When Sebastian looked at her questioningly, Sashanya shrugged "It's Mandy, my manager. She's probably having a PR nightmare right now."

"Why?" asked Sebastian, his lips twitching in laughter.

"Because - oh well - the word is out that we're apparently dating." said Sashanya reading the messages of shock and outrage from Mandy and when she looked up Sebastian was grinning like an idiot.

"We are? Why didn't you tell me, my darling?" asked Sebastian in a flirty manner and Sashanya rolled her eyes at him.

"In my defense, I didn't know either." said Sashanya making Sebastian laugh and then she shook her head muttering "Just because we held hands while coming out of a bar together."

Sebastian looked at Sashanya thoughtfully "Why did you hold my hand?"

"It's something I do." said Sashanya taken aback at his question "I - I didn't want you to get hurt or anything like that - and it's easy to get mobbed - I didn't want that to happen to you."

"Awww." said Sebastian winking at Sashanya "Sounds like you have a crush on me!"

Sashanya felt herself blush but she rolled her eyes at Sebastian "Don't flatter yourself. I hold hands with all of my friends whenever I go out with them."

"Oh, so now we're friends?" asked Sebastian with a grin.

Sashanya looked at Sebastian with a smile "Friends."


	4. Chapter 4

As expected, rumors had begun to spread like wildfire about Sashanya and Sebastian's relationship. The tabloids, magazines, and gossip sites speculated about whether Sebastian and Sashanya were dating and pictures of both of them holding hands and looking cosy while coming out of the bar were posted everywhere on the Internet. The fans had gone crazy when they saw their two favorite actors had met each other and were spending time with each other. Some of Sebastian's fans began accusing Sashanya of sleeping with the famous actor to get ahead in her career but Sashanya's fans were not having it. Sashanya's fans came to their beloved idols defense and defended her by retaliating that Sebastian was sleeping with the legendary actress to get attention from the press and that Sashanya didn't need to sleep with Sebastian to become famous because she had already made herself an iconic and incredible actress and singer in Hollywood without anyone's help. The rest of the fans were supportive of their friendship or relationship, shipping them together. It was a storm of madness and craziness. 

Mandy had called in an emergency meeting first thing in the next morning and had begun to rant and lecture to Sashanya who spaced out after five minutes of listening to her manager telling her that she was going to have a field day with this PR nightmare. Sashanya knew that Mandy and her wanted her image to be projected as a single and successful lady driven by her desire to achieve her dreams and her love for acting and singing. So Sashanya understood why Mandy was upset. Holding hands with Sebastian Stan spoiled that well crafted image that they both worked so hard to maintain. But Sashanya explained what really happened and Mandy had frowned at her and turned around and barked instructions to her fearful staff members who scuttled away to obey her commands and then picked up her phone to make the rumors go away. And Sashanya knew that if there was anyone who could handle something like this, it was Mandy. The woman was strong, business minded, intelligent and smart and took no bullshit from anyone. And within two days, the rumors had stopped, the articles on the tabloids had mysteriously vanished and were replaced by inarguable statements specifying how Sashanya and Sebastian were only friends and nothing more. 

This did not stop Sashanya and Sebastian from spending time together. They talked and chatted on set, Sebastian making Sashanya laugh with his witty remarks. They went on long walks together in parks, particularly the Ralph Bunche Park and the quiet Conservatory in the Central Park which was favorites of Sashanya. Sebastian learned that Sashanya was a coffee addict and couldn't function without it, so every morning on set, he would bring her hot chocolate because she was secretly a child with an incredible sweet tooth. Sashanya would drag Sebastian to amazing restaurants surprising Sebastian with new flavors of food and sometimes she would take him to modest and laid back diners which served comfort junk food like pizza, burgers, french fries and milkshakes. Sebastian would buy Sashanya small gifts that he hoped she would like and would remind her of him. Seeing her eyes light up and hug him happily whenever he gave her small gifts was the best thing ever. Sebastian would make up small excuses to spend time with Sashanya because she was the most truly interesting and beautiful woman that he had ever met. Sashanya liked talking with Sebastian because he was understanding and intelligent and she could talk to him about anything. They were very good friends and they were very close to each other. Sebastian and Sashanya would spend time with each other discreetly, trying their best to avoid the attention of the paparazzi and the fans as much as possible. 

Right now, Sashanya was sitting in a comfy couch with her friends Noah, Curren, Camren and Chloe about to do a video for Oh My Disney. The cast of Avengers were there as well and Sashanya spotted Sebastian behind the cameras and as she caught his eye, he smiled at her sweetly and gave her a thumbs up and she giggled.

"And ACTION!" shouted the director and they began pre - recording a video for Valentines day which was coming up.

"Hi! We're the cast of Batgirl!" said Sashanya, Noah, Curren, Chloe and Camren enthusiastically in unison

"And we're going to be spreading the love this Valentines day by singing these amazing Disney love songs!" said Sashanya as she smiled brightly. 

"WOOOOHOOOO!!!" yelled Camren and Chloe together and Curren and Noah started clapping while Sashanya giggled. 

"Let's get mushy." remarked Curren as he picked the papers with the lyrics of the songs.

Noah looked at Camren, Chloe, Curren, and Sashanya "I'm gonna be honest. I don't know any of these songs."

"Dishonor!" began Sashanya gasping dramatically eliciting giggles from Camren and Chloe "DISHONOR ON YOUR WHOLE FAMILY! DISHONOR ON YOU! DISHONOR ON YOUR COW!"

Camren and Chloe were laughing and Curren was chuckling and Noah looked confused "I don't understand. Is that some disney reference?"

"It's Mushu from Mulan, you dunderhead." said Chloe making everyone laugh "Get educated!"

"Oh, I love Mushu." said Curren with a grin 

"Who doesn't?" asked Sashanya with a laugh "Okay, let's get to the singing."

"Um - I'll go first." said Curren as he took the first song "Okay, this is my rendition of 'I Won't Say I'm In Love' and this is why I want to be Hercules."

"Okay, first of all Hercules doesn't sing that but go on." said Sashanya knowingly and sassily as she suppressed a grin. 

Curren took a deep breath and began "If there's a prize for rotten judgement/ I guess I've already won that -"

Sashanya snorted in laughter, Chloe started giggling, Camren bit her lip trying not to laugh and Noah looked amused. Curren ignored them and went on singing "No woman is worth the aggravation -"

"Excuse me?" asked Camren with a grin making everyone snort in laughter.

"That's ancient history, been there, done that!" said Curren snapping his fingers sassily.

Sashanya was unable to resist anymore and she joined in singing with Curren "Who'd'ya think you're kiddin'/ She's the earth and heaven to you-"

"Try to keep it hidden/ Honey, we can see right through you!" sang Camren and Chloe loudly and Noah joined in the fun as as all of them sang " Boy, ya can't conceal it/ We know how ya feel and/ Who you're thinking of ooooohhhhh!!!!"

"No chance, no way/ I won't say it, no, no." said Curren dramatically shaking his head.

Camren, Chloe, Noah and Sashanya looked at Curren in mock concern as they sang together "You swoon, you sigh, why deny it, uh-oh!!!"

"It's too cliche, I won't say I'm in love!" finished Curren with a laugh and Noah, Camren, Sashanya, and Chloe started laughing and clapping for Curren.

"Yay! Well done, Curren!" said Chloe with a bright smile. 

"Thank you, thank you!" said Curren with a dazzling smile, making everyone laugh. 

"Since I don't know much about Disney, what movies should I watch?" asked Noah from his friends.

"Oh, like - are you asking us to recommend you the top five?" asked Curren taking the bowl of gummy bears and passing it around.

"Yeah, something like that." said Noah with a grin 

"Um - you should really ask Sashanya." said Camren munching on marshmallows "She's the Disney expert. She loves, lives and breathes everything Disney!"

Sashanya threw a gummy bear at Camren who caught it popped it in her mouth "Um - my top five would be - oh gosh that's a really hard question. There's so many good Disney movies."

"Mine would be Lion King, Dumbo, Moana, 101 Dalmations, Mary Poppins." said Chloe "Oh also, Little Mermaid because Sebastian is fantastic."

Sashanya looked towards Sebastian who was grinning behind the cameras and Chloe saw that and corrected herself "I mean - the crab! Sebastian is a crab!"

Sashanya burst into laughter and Noah grinned "I actually have watched Little Mermaid."

"Really?" asked Curren in surprise "I would have never guessed that. Now that's the kind of thing we learn when we do games like this."

"Sashanya hasn't still recommended her favorite Disney movies." commented Camren as she smiled at her best friend

Sashanya smiled as she began to speak "I have so many Disney movies I love ... um - obviously Lion King but other than that. Aladdin, Pocahontas, Lilo & Stitch, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, Tangled, Peter Pan, Tarzan, Hercules -"

"He only asked for five!" exclaimed Camren interrupting Sashanya's listing of Disney movies while laughing.

"I'm sorry!" said Sashanya with a laugh and Noah hugged Sashanya 

"I'm definitely going to watch all of those." said Noah with a fond smile. 

"I'm going to do the next song." said Camren and she coughed and cleared her throat, preparing herself and she began in a soulful voice "Tale as old as time ..."

"Nice." said Chloe looking at Camren in approval.

"True as it can be" sang Camren and Chloe and Sashanya burst into giggles. 

"Barely even friends... then somebody bends -" sang Camren in a high pitched voice trying her best to imitate Celine Dion.

"Oh, she's gone soprano." said Sashanya with a grin and Camren burst into laughter making everyone laugh. 

Their laughter subsided and Curren looked at Noah "Noah, dude, it's your turn."

"Oh no." said Noah nervously as he took the paper with the lyrics printed on it and looked at it and relaxed "Oh, I actually know this one."

Sashanya, Curren, Chloe and Camren looked at Noah in expectation and attention and Noah began to sing in a gruff but sweet voice "There you see her/ Sitting there across the way -"

Curren, Chloe and Camren began to snap their fingers to the beat while Sashanya smiled sweetly as she listened attentively to Noah sing "She don't got a lot to say/ but there's something about her"

"And you don't know why/ But you're dying to try/ You wanna kiss the girl" sang Noah as he looked at Sashanya who was moving back and forth to the beat and at the last line Noah pointed to Sashanya who laughingly pointed at herself at the same time. 

Neither of them saw Sebastian's smile vanish and a frown appear on his face behind the cameras. 

Noah laughed shyly and Curren, Chloe, Camren and Sashanya clapped and cheered for Noah and Noah looked at Sashanya who was looking at him fondly "Sashanya, why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's because I'm proud of you." replied Sashanya with a proud and happy smile.

"Don't look at me like that, you're distracting me!" complained Noah with his puppy eyes and a cute smile. 

Sashanya laughed and the rest of the cast members who were used to their cute banter didn't take it seriously. But Sebastian who was standing behind the cameras watching Noah and Sashanya giggle and talk together frowned feeling a sense of irritation and annoyance that he couldn't quite understand. He didn't like how close Noah was sitting next to Sashanya, their legs pressed together comfortably and how he had his arm around her as if it was the most natural thing in the world and how they smiled at each other affectionately and proudly. He did not like it at all. 

Chloe took the next paper and looked at it and then smiled at the camera as she tossed her hair confidently making everyone chuckle "Cinderella, watch out!"

"A dream is a wish your heart makes/ When you're fast asleep." began Chloe and everyone began snickering because Chloe didn't have the best voice. 

"In dreams you lose your heartaches." said Chloe with a smile, ignoring her cast members.

"Oh, she's singing in country style." remarked Camren casually and Chloe burst out laughing. 

"No matter how your heart is grieving/ If you keep on believing/the dream that you wish will come true!" sang Chloe in the dramatic voice of an opera singer making everyone laugh and clap at her performance.

"YAAASSS CHLOE!!!" cheered Sashanya loudly "Work it girl!"

"Great job Chloe!" said Camren as she highfived her best friend.

"Cinderella Who?" asked Curren pretending to be confused and the rest of them laughed.

Sashanya took another paper with the printed lyrics and squealed enthusiastically "Oh this is one of my favorite Disney songs!"

"A Whole New World." said Noah, reading out the title of the song. 

"Oh, nice." said Camren approvingly "That is actually a really romantic song."

"I know right!" said Sashanya with a smile "This is dedicated to my Aladdin, wherever you are!"

Camren, Curren, Chloe and Noah burst into giggles and then fell silent when Sashanya started singing slowly and sweetly "I can show you the world/ Shining, shimmering, splendid."

Sashanya's eyes connected with Sebastian's piercing blue ones "Tell me, darling, now when did you last let your heart decide?"

"I can open your eyes/ Take you wonder by wonder." sang Sashanya as she smiled at Sebastian who looked enthralled "Over, sideways and under on a magic carpet ride"

"A whole new world!!!" sang Sashanya, her voice filled with soulful energy and enthusiasm that made Sebastian shiver pleasantly and his heart race wildly "A new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no, or where to go" Sashanya smiled adorably at Sebastian as she sang sweetly "Or say we're only dreaming."

Sashanya finished singing and Curren, Noah, Chloe and Camren started clapping and cheering for her. She saw Sebastian smiling shyly at her and she smiled at him. 

"That was amazing!" said Noah clapping admiringly for Sashanya and Sashanya tore her eyes away from Sebastian and smiled at Noah. 

"Yeah, you really nailed it." said Curren highfiving Sashanya.

"Thanks guys." said Sashanya modestly as she fist bumped Chloe and Camren.

"Okay, so this is the last song and we all have to sing it together." announced Noah to his friends "It's called 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight?''

"Classic." remarked Curren and everyone murmured in agreement. 

"Okay, so one, two, three" said Camren and all of them began to sing together "Can you feel the love tonight? The peace the evening brings/ The world, for once, in perfect harmony/ With all its living things"

Their voices together were horrible and it was like a cat howling for help but they were so funny and adorable, that everyone around them couldn't help but laugh. Curren, Noah, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe were dancing, snapping their fingers to the beat and singing loudly and the energy they were radiating was infectious. 

"Can you feel the love tonight?"

"CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE?" harmonized Sashanya with a grin. 

"You needn't look too far!!!!"

"FAAAARR!!!!" screeched Chloe making them chuckle.

"Stealing through the night's uncertainties, love is where they areeeeeeeeee!!!!" all of them sang and finished together with an unholy and ungodly high pitched note. 

"Wow, I really feel good about all of this." said Curren with a grin as Noah, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe clapped and laughed merrily.

"Apologies to everyone who went deaf after this performance." said Noah with a laugh.

"They probably won't hear you." remarked Sashanya and everyone started laughing. 

"So, yeah - I think that's the end of this video." said Noah with a smile and everyone made noises of disappointment but they were smiling "Happy Valentines day to everyone out there! We hope you have a wonderful day filled with lots of love and chocolate."

"And remember love is love!" said Chloe with a smile and everyone made sounds of approval and clapped "Love who you want to love because love is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful thing."

"Yeah and just don't wait around for Valentine's day to show someone that you love them." said Sashanya "Go tell and show your boyfriend, girlfriend, your family, your friends how much you love them everyday. Everyday should be Valentines day!"

"Yes, definitely." said Noah nodding his head in agreement and the others hummed in approval. 

"Most importantly, don't forget to use protection." said Camren with a mischievous wink which made everyone burst into laughter. 

"Spread the love!" said Curren loudly as he grinned. 

"Share the love!" said Sashanya with a bright smile.

"YAASSS!!!" said Camren enthusiastically and Curren, Sashanya, Noah, Chloe and Camren began singing "SHARE THE LOVE! SHARE THE LOVE! SHARE THE LOVE!"

"Yaaaayyy!" cheered Chloe happily "I love you guys!"

"Aww we love you too!" said Camren, Sashanya, Noah and Curren in unison and they formed a group hug, hugging each other giggling and laughing like idiots. 

The director cut the rolling video and they laughed as they broke off the group hug after a few moments. Sashanya talked with Noah, Curren, Chloe and Camren for a few moments and then walked towards Sebastian who was standing behind the cameras smiling at her. 

"Hey there." said Sashanya with a bright smile as she hugged Sebastian.

"Hey princess" greeted Sebastian with a wide smile 

Sashanya blushed and saw that Sebastian was smiling at the princess tiara on her head and she removed it hastily "Ah, back to normal. Finished this valentines day thing."

"Speaking of Valentines day." began Sebastian feeling a little nervous "Do you have any plans?"

Sashanya looked at Sebastian with a smile "Oh yeah. I'm definitely busy on Valentines day."

Sebastian's heart dropped in disappointment because he had been hoping to take her out for Valentine's day. But someone had already beaten him to it. And why wouldn't they? Sashanya was an extremely kind, smart, funny and beautiful woman and any man would be lucky to spend Valentine's day in her company. 

"Oh." said Sebastian swallowing his disappointment and trying to smile as a thought struck him "Is it Noah?"

"What?" asked Sashanya who looked surprised and stunned at the question.

"Um - you said you had plans on Valentines day - I assumed they were with Noah." stammered Sebastian nervously, thinking he had gone wrong somewhere.

Sashanya looked at Sebastian incredulously for one moment and then burst out laughing "You thought Noah and I were dating?"

Sebastian looked at her annoyed but he was pleased to see her laughing "What? You guys are close -"

"Noah and I are just friends." said Sashanya seriously and reassuringly and Sebastian nodded silently, believing her. "What I meant was - I'm working on Valentines day."

"You are?" asked Sebastian surprised and then shook his head at her "Who works on Valentines day?"

"Single ladies with no potential prospects of ever having a love life." replied Sashanya with a grin "I'm performing as the closing act at a Valentines Day Music Festival at Randall's Island Park."

"Sounds fun." said Sebastian with a smile, secretly feeling disheartened because he would not be hanging out with Sashanya "Well, good luck."

"Would you like to come?" asked Sashanya from Sebastian.

Sebastian wasn't sure he had heard right "What?" 

"I mean- would you like to come to music festival?" asked Sashanya quickly and shyly as if she was afraid of the answer "It would be really cool and we can hangout together afterwards."

Sebastian looked at Sashanya in surprise because he had never expected Sashanya to ask him out. He must have stayed silent in shock and joy for a long time that Sashanya immediately took his silence as a negative answer.

"Of course - I'm so stupid - You don't want to - you probably have a date already -" Sashanya started blabbering feeling very stupid but Sebastian interrupted her.

"I'd love to." said Sebastian with a bright smile. 

"You would?" asked Sashanya in relief.

"Yeah, I don't have a date and I want to come to see you perform." said Sebastian smiling at Sashanya whose smile lit up her whole face. 

"Oh wow, great!" said Sashanya happily "I can't wait!"

"Me too." replied Sebastian as he smiled happily at Sashanya.


	5. Chapter 5

Sashanya felt the nervousness rushing through her as she got ready to perform the closing act of the Valentines Day Music Festival. Sashanya had rehearsed the songs and the dance routines with her dancers and her band and everything had been perfect. She had come early, posed for some glamorous pictures looking her best and done a few interviews with interviewers chosen by Mandy and then had proceeded to enter to her room where Adam her makeup and hairstylist and Amanda, her fashion stylist was waiting for her. Amanda had designed Sashanya's concert costume and as always she had gone above and beyond her duty by designing the most gorgeous and stunning outfit which Sashanya immediately fell in love with. Sashanya got into her outfit for the festival and she felt incredibly comfortable, confident and sexy in herself as she looked at herself in the mirror. Adam had done the job of dying her hair back to dark and silky black, so he began to style her hair into amped up thick and healthy voluminous waves. Sashanya liked to try out different hairstyles but she loved it when her hair was just kept loose and free especially when she was performing. Then after finishing styling her hair, Adam began applying her makeup while talking to her about his new crush at the new kebab place near his house. Sashanya offered to be his wing-woman and he laughed and accepted and teased her about her potential crushes. Sashanya liked Adam, he knew what he was doing and he was fun to hang out with and half of the things he said, Sashanya didn't take it seriously. After all of that was done, Sashanya invited her dancers and her band to hang out with her in her dressing room and while they laughed and talked, Sashanya texted Sebastian who had come for the festival. Sebastian made her smile and laugh with the silliest things he said about the performers at the festival and the jokes he made about how terrible the food was. And Sashanya was secretly grateful that he had not mentioned her ex - boyfriend who was currently singing his songs, which apparently according to a very annoyed Mandy were all dedicated to 'wanting to get back together with Sashanya'.

As Sebastian wished her good luck, she blushed and a familiar, teasing voice interrupted her "Who is he?"

Sashanya looked up to see Matt Jordan, one of her dancers grinning at her and she acted innocent "Who?"

"The guy you've been texting all this time? The guy who makes you smile like that?" asked Matt waggling his eyebrows and Sashanya blushed. 

"He's no one." said Sashanya switching off her phone and smirked at Matt "Just a friend."

Matt was about to say something when Mandy burst into the room "C'mon everyone! You're up next, Sashanya!"

Sashanya walked towards the stage ushered by a fussing Mandy who was dishing out advice on how to ace her performance followed by her dancers and band. The stage was dark, so the band and Sashanya quickly took their places along with a few dancers. Sashanya felt her heart beat fast as she heard her fans scream loudly and she smiled feeling the familiar rush of power and energy. Suddenly the lights started flashing and the loud sound effects started to play. 

Sashanya began to sing under the dim lights flashing "Hey baby...."

The crowd cheered and she crooned slowly "Hey baby..."

Suddenly the lights were on her and everyone screamed as they saw their favorite singer sitting down on a golden throne elegantly, one leg on top of the other. She smiled at the audience and began to sing "Hey baby, tell me your name, I got a fever for you -"

The crowd went wild as with excitement as Sashanya began to sing and dance to the beat. Sashanya continued on with the song, perfectly executing the dance moves while effortlessly singing and getting the crowd pumped up. As she sang, she looked for Sebastian in the crowd and after a while, she found him clapping and cheering and smiled at him. Sebastian looked stunned at first, as if he couldn't believe Sashanya was looking at him amidst all these people and then he grinned back happily at her. 

Sebastian looked admiringly at Sashanya who was smiling at something one of her dancers did while singing another song. Sebastian didn't know what to expect since he had never seen Sashanya perform before but he was blown away by her singing and dancing. Her voice was incredibly powerful and moving and Sebastian loved listening to her sing. She poured her heart and soul into her performance and the beauty and emotion that she conveyed through her singing blew him away. Sashanya had once told Sebastian in confidence that she couldn't dance but that was not true. Sashanya's dancing was lively, graceful and beautiful. She moved with the music as if they were one and Sebastian could feel all her emotions with every dance move taking his breath away. She was incredibly sexy and confident, wearing a classy white lace top which showed off her glittering dark pink bra underneath and which hugged her body perfectly and teased a little bit of cleavage. Her dark blue booty shorts flaunted all her curves perfectly and she wore dark thigh high stockings and white thigh boots. She looked gorgeous and sexy, which drove Sebastian wild with very inappropriate thoughts that he shouldn't be having about someone who was his friend. She would occasionally look at Sebastian with a teasing smirk or a confident smile and Sebastian would do his very best to smile back at her trying to be steady by ignoring his wobbly knees and racing heart. 

Sashanya wasn't just a great singer and dancer, she also had magnificent stage presence. Sashanya had this magnetic and charismatic stage presence which drew everyone towards her and everybody loved her. She occasionally deviated from the choreographed dance moves and danced in her own weird and silly way that made people laugh, she had great rapport and chemistry with her dancers and her band, she would crack jokes that made everyone laugh and tease her dancers, her band and her fans playfully and she would stop for a while and talk to the fans who were screaming her name and begging for attention. Sebastian smiled as Sashanya teased a happy couple in the front row.

"WOT?" asked Sashanya puzzled, trying to hear what the girl was saying to her through the loud noise "It's your first date?"

The girl shook her head and Sashanya kept on going "Second? Third? Fourth? Fifth?" The girl nodded and Sashanya continued "It's your fifth date! Wow!"

The crowd cheered and Sashanya grinned at the couple "So why did you choose to spend your Valentine's day, your fifth date here among drunk, sweaty and horny people?"

The crowd laughed and Sebastian couldn't help but laugh too. He watched as Sashanya leaned over to hear what the boy and girl were saying and then smiled at them. 

"Oh that's awesome!" said Sashanya grinning "So apparently Katie here is a huge fan of mine and Dave here bought tickets for Katie to see me for the first time!"

The crowd cheered and clapped loudly and Sashanya grinned at Katie "Katie, he's a keeper. Marry him. I give you my blessing."

Sebastian roared in laughter and Katie and Dave said something to Sashanya who said in a protective voice "Okay, okay - Dave, treat my girl, Katie right."

Sebastian smiled as he saw Dave nod with a smile and kiss Katie and Sashanya laughed as she made her way back "Love is in the air tonight!"

The crowd cheered and Sashanya grinned infectiously "So the next song is for all of you, my darling valentines, because I think you all are absolutely .... GORGEOUS!"

The song started and Sebastian watched transfixed as Sashanya performed. She moved fluidly and gracefully while singing beautifully as she smiled and waved at her cheering fans. 

Then Sashanya's eyes connected with Sebastian's piercing blue ones as she sang "Ocean Blue Eyes looking in mine, I feel like I might sink and drown and die!!!" 

Then she winked at him with a mischievous smile making him blush and continued singing as she danced around the stage while looking at him "You're so gorgeous, I can't say anything to your face, cause look at your face!" 

"And I'm so furious at you for making me feel this way ... but what can I say?" sang Sashanya as she looked at the crowd who was singing loudly along with her and then smiled softly at Sebastian "You're gorgeous!"

Sebastian smiled shyly and happily as he watched Sashanya dance around the stage with her dancers while singing. Sashanya had just sung to him, telling him he was gorgeous. She hadn't cared about anyone else, she was singing only to him. Sebastian couldn't deny that he was attracted to Sashanya. She was gorgeous and fun to hang out. She was intelligent and funny and thoughtful. She was also extremely good at acting and singing. But Sebastian knew that Sashanya didn't feel the same way about him. She just wanted to hang out with him tonight as friends, it wasn't a date. And her playful winks and teasing smiles and sweet singing, wasn't all for Sebastian. Maybe this was something Sashanya did for everyone who she invited to see her perform. It was just a part of her magnetic stage presence and amazing performance. She didn't mean any of it and Sebastian didn't want to fool himself into believing that he was special to her. 

The song had ended and now Sashanya was talking with one of her dancers. She was teasing him and laughing with him playfully which twisted something ugly in Sebastian's stomach. 

"Okay, so when I was singing I saw this poster - I am not kidding - I saw this poster which said - 'Matt shake your booty'!" said Sashanya looking mildly disgusted and amused. 

Everyone started laughing and cheering loudly and Sashanya looked at Matt who had started to twerk "No, no, no! This is a family show!"

Everyone began to laugh at how Sashanya was laughingly scolding Matt and then looked at the crowd knowingly "Or is it?"

The crowd went wild and Sashanya laughingly said "It is, it is!"

The crowd laughed and clapped and Sebastian felt himself laugh as he looked at Sashanya smacking Matt on his arm. Sashanya smiled at the crowd as she looked at them. 

"Oh my god, you all look so beautiful." said Sashanya stunned as she took in the cheering crowds and the shining lights "I wish you could see yourselves through my eyes. You're so amazing!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Sashanya smiled at them "So I'm going to sing the last song but before I do, I want to thank every single one of you for coming today and spending your Valentines day here with me! You could have done anything else but you chose to share your love with me and that makes me feel so happy and loved! I love you all so much!"

Everyone cheered wildly, some people were crying, some were smiling and laughing and all of them yelled "Love you too!"

"Awww!!!" said Sashanya feeling incredibly happy "I love you and I want you to know that for everyone who has found love in their own special way, I'm so happy for you. Hold onto that love, to love and to be loved is the greatest miracle in the world!" 

"And to everyone who hasn't found their special someone, don't worry I'm with you." said Sashanya with a grin and everyone single cheered "You should definitely wait for someone who treats you with so much of love and respect and you should never settle for some crappy, shitty asshole!"

"And remember, I love every single one of you." said Sashanya with a loving smile as she blew kisses to the crowd who cheered. "And with that said, I have a very important question for you."

"Who here has a shitty ex?" asked Sashanya and the whole crowd imploded as they screamed out loudly "So this next song is something all of us here can relate to. It's about moving on after a relationship ends to bigger and better things, leaving the past in the past. It's about how the heartache that we all went through made us stronger and wiser and helped us love and be loved in the way that we all deserve to be."

"And so I want you all to sing out loudly to this song" said Sashanya knowing that Jamie was going to see this "This is A Shout out to My Ex!"

The music began to play and Sashanya smiled sassily as she began to sing "This is a shout out to my ex! Heard he is in love with some other chick!"

"Yeah, yeah, that hurt me, I'll admit." sang Sashanya as she pouted and then grinned "Forget that boy, I'm over it!"

"I hope she gettin' better sex. Hope she ain't fakin' it like I did, babe." sang Sashanya as she rolled her eyes and the crowd screamed loudly in delight and happiness "Took four long years to call it quits, forget that boy I'm over it!"

"Guess I should say thank you for the hate yous and the tattoos, oh baby, I'm cool by the way." sang Sashanya and Sebastian was sure that he hand't heard a more louder crowd than this singing along with Sashanya to this song "Ain't sure I loved you anyway. Go ahead, babe, I'mma live my life, my life, yeah!"

The crowd screamed loudly in enthusiasm and Sashanya smiled in happiness as she began to sing powerfully and dance energetically "Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man. You made my heart break and that made me who I am! Here's to my ex, hey look at me now, well I'm all the way up, I swear you'll never bring me down!"

"Sing!" yelled Sashanya with a grin as she pointed her mic towards the crowd who sang deafeningly loud voices as Sashanya sang and danced along with her dancers who were grinning and laughing 

"Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man!" Sashanya placed her hand on her chest with a soft smile "You made my heart break and that made me who I am!" 

Then she grinned as she waved "Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now. Well I'm all the way up, I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down!"

The atmosphere was electric. Sebastian could feel the energy levels rising as everyone cheered and stamped and laughed and sang at the top of their lungs. Sashanya continued singing and dancing and the crowd was crazy for her. Everyone loved her and sang along with her and cheered for her because they really did relate to her one way or another. She was magnificent. She really was show stopping and brilliant. Sashanya knew exactly how to get the crowd going and what to do to please her audience. And everyone there watching her was a sucker for her. Even her band and her dancers were enthusiastically singing along with her and she didn't mind one bit. In fact she loved it so much, that she encouraged everyone, the fans, the band, the dancers to sing along with her. That's what was so compelling about her. She didn't take the spotlight all to herself, she shared it with everyone and she loved doing it. 

The music slowed down a bit and Sashanya took a deep breath as she began to sing sweetly "Shout out to my ex, you're really quite the man. You made my heart break and that made me who I am." 

Sebastian looked at Sashanya in admiration and pride and knew that he wasn't the only one doing so. All the fans were cheering admiringly and adoringly, her dancers and her band looked like proud parents seeing their baby grow up to be an incredibly strong woman as they looked at Sashanya performing.

"Here's to my ex, hey, look at me now." sang Sashanya and then she smiled proudly and brightly "Well, I'm all the way up, I swear you'll never, you'll never bring me down!!!"

Everyone cheered at her high notes and Sebastian couldn't help but clap and cheer for the incredible girl on stage. Her voice was incredibly powerful and he had enjoyed himself more than he had expected to. Sashanya had a way of getting everyone in the audience to join in and have fun, from a six year old girl to a sixteen year old teenager, to a twenty something almost adult, to a thirty year old mom and a seventy year old grandpa. She was singing and dancing around the stage, having fun with her dancers and she looked at the audience with bright, shining eyes and a happy smile. 

"HANDS IN THE AIR!" yelled Sashanya cheerfully and everyone's hands were immediately in the air, waving around as she started clapping and jumping around and everyone followed her lead "HANDS IN THE AIR! GET EM' UP, GET EM' UP, LET'S GO!"

"OH OH OH! SING!" yelled Sashanya as she jumped up and down energetically 

The crowd yelled "OH OH OH!"

"Now sing, SHOUT OUT TO MY EX!" said Sashanya with a grin as she pointed the mic towards the audience as she ran around the stage wildly. 

"SHOUT OUT TO MY EX!" screamed the crowd as they waved their hands in their wildly.

"SHOUT OUT TO MY EX!" sang Sashanya dancing around the stage.

"SHOUT OUT TO MY EX!" repeated the crowd enthusiastically and Sebastian screamed along with them. He couldn't help it, Sashanya had that factor which made him relax and loose control. 

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!" sang Sashanya as she ran up to her final place on the stage while dancing and jumping around wildly and then looked at the singing and dancing audience as she threw her head back laughing in happiness, finishing the song "You'll never bring me down!"

The moment Sashanya finished singing, spectacular and beautiful fireworks exploded in the sky and confetti blasted through the air to the delight and happiness of everyone and Sashanya gave one last wave and dazzling smile at the crowd "Thank you so much! Happy Valentines Day!"

Then the stage went dark and the crowd went mad, cheering and clapping for Sashanya even after she had gone. Sebastian joined them cheering and clapping for the talented Sashanya who had put on an incredible show that he had enjoyed very much. 

Sashanya ran backstage, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she squealed in excitement, hugging her band members and dancers "WE DID IT!!!"

Everyone cheered as they hugged one another and continuously repeated what a great night it had been and Sashanya got everyone to come to her dressing room and opened a bottle of champagne in celebration, making everyone cheer in happiness. Then of course, Sashanya had apologized to everyone for spoiling their Valentines day plans to which all her band members and dancers had laughed and made jokes. After celebrating for a while, Sashanya decided to find Sebastian and go home. 

Sashanya loved performing on stage and nothing could quite come close to the pleasure and excitement that it bought her but she was really looking forward to spending her night with Sebastian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All credit for the songs used in this chapter goes to the respective singers. 
> 
> Move - Little Mix
> 
> Gorgeous - Taylor Swift
> 
> Shout Out To My Ex - Little Mix


	6. Chapter 6

"So this is me." said Sashanya as she unlocked her dark blue door and opened to reveal her home and let Sebastian step in first and then went in. "Home, sweet, home."

Sebastian stepped in and was stunned by the luxurious and elegant penthouse and remarked "Fancy."

Sashanya laughed as she shoved Sebastian playfully "Shut up. It's quiet and has a great view, so that's something."

Sebastian knew what she meant. Her penthouse was tucked away from the busy hustle and bustle and the unnecessary noise that Sashanya had to face every day. It was quiet, calm and peaceful and Sebastian almost felt like he was intruding in her personal space. It was Sashanya's sanctuary, her own personal happy space where she could call it home. 

Sebastian looked through the glass windows which overlooked the shining and blinking lights of the city that never slept, New York. Sashanya was right, it was a stunning and magnificent view. Everything was so small and insignificant from up here and it made him look at the bigger picture. 

"I like it here." said Sashanya quietly, who was standing beside him, gazing over at the city "It reminds me it's a real, breathing, living city from up here. When I'm down there, it's easy for me to get lost and feel like - like I'm dying and fading away. But the view up here never fails to remind me that everything is just bigger than I can fathom."

Sebastian looked at Sashanya who was looking thoughtful at the city as he breathed "Beautiful"

Sashanya turned to look at Sebastian thinking he meant the view but then saw that he was looking at her with an expression akin to adoration and she blushed. She bit her lip shyly and cleared her throat "I'm glad you like it. It's nice to have somebody to share it with."

"Your private sanctuary?" teased Sebastian with a smile. 

"Well, I like being alone." said Sashanya honestly "But it gets lonely sometimes and it's just nice to have someone."

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya softly and Sashanya smiled back "Hey, I'm going to have a quick shower and I'll be back real soon."

"Oh yeah." nodded Sebastian looking at Sashanya who was still in her concert costume "Take your time."

Sebastian reprimanded himself for his stupid words but Sashanya smiled brilliantly "Great. Make yourself at home, Seb."

Sebastian smiled and Sashanya went to freshen herself up in the shower. She quickly scrubbed herself clean and shampooed and conditioned her hair. This was ridiculous. She had never done this before. Usually after a show, she just had a quick wash and would next day deal with her hair but tonight was an exception. Maybe it was because of the handsome man with a charming smile sitting in her living room on Valentine's Day waiting to spend some time with her. She rushed out of the shower and dried her herself. She looked at her hair in the mirror and it was a bloody mess that would have given Adam cardiac arrest. She shook her head at herself and began to rush through her closet, trying to find something cute to wear. Her personal closet was a mess that would have given her mother high blood pressure but right now all she wanted was to look good. There was a hot guy waiting to spend time with her on Valentines day at her home. That didn't happen very often to Sashanya and she wanted to make the best of it. Oh, who was she kidding? Why was she even thinking of it as a date? Sebastian was just a friend. A very hot, charming, kind and smart friend. He probably just took pity on her and came to see her show and hang out with her. He wasn't even thinking of this evening as anything special, so why should she? 

Sashanya heaved a huge sigh and finally opted for a classy pale pink knee length flouncy skirt and a black long sleeved tee. It was comfortable and it looked good. Not cute, or sexy, or romantic but it looked good. It made her look like the invisible girl next door. Sashanya laughed slightly at the truth of that thought. Beneath all the fame and the glory, no one really cared enough to get to know the real Sashanya who liked coffee, loved learning, suffered with anxiety and depression and liked peace and quiet. She was presented as the popular, sexy, confident woman but she was really the girl next door, no one cared enough to notice or get to know. She tried not to let that get to her, and she enjoyed the attention and the love given to her by her fans without complaining but at the end of the day, she had no one to go to home to like the rest of her friends. 

She combed her hair, and it looked better and proper than before. Almost satisfied with the results, she looked at the red lipstick that lay on her dresser and thought of applying it and then pushed that thought away quickly. It wasn't a romantic date. It was two friends hanging out together on Valentine's day because they didn't have anyone else. 

Sashanya walked into the living room to see Sebastian lounging on her sofa, reading one of the legal magazines that were on the coffee table. He looked up as she entered the room and smiled brightly, his whole face lighting up in happiness. 

"Hey there!" greeted Sebastian with a wide smile "You look great!"

"Thanks." said Sashanya as she blushed "Hey, can I get you something to drink? What are you in the mood for?"

"Oh anything is fine. Maybe just a glass of -" began Sebastian but his mouth fell open when he saw the bar that was in front of him. "Holy fuck!"

Sashanya laughed at Sebastian's reaction to her well stocked bar "Something wrong, Seb?"

"I didn't know you - you were such -" began Sebastian trying to find the words as he looked at the bar and then an amused Sashanya "I didn't - your really passionate about alcohol huh?"

"Just like any other girl, I occasionally indulge myself in drinking." said Sashanya as she went behind the bar and took out the mixer "So, what would you like to drink this Valentine's day?"

"You make cocktails?" asked Sebastian in surprise. 

"Yes. And not to exaggerate but I'm very good at it." said Sashanya waggling her eyebrows playfully. "It's all part of my charm."

"You don't say." remarked Sebastian as he looked at the grinning girl "I don't know - surprise me."

"Okay." said Sashanya with a grin and began to work by opening up various boxes and pouring them into the mixer and shaking it around. Sebastian watched her quietly, as she worked with utmost concentration of a person who had done this many times and after a few moments, she presented him with a glass of temptingly delicious looking red liquid topped with two strawberries. 

Sebastian looked at the drink and then at Sashanya "Are you going to tell me what this poison is?"

"Hey, it's not poison!" said Sashanya indignantly making Sebastian grin "It's a Mediterranean Sangria. It's got champagne, red wine, apricot brandy, orange juice, pineapple -"

"Are you sure I won't die?" asked Sebastian teasingly and Sashanya rolled her eyes at him. 

"Well, the only way to find out is by drinking it." said Sashanya teasingly and Sebastian grinned at her as he took the glass and lifted it up in cheers to Sashanya and took a sip of it and felt the most incredible and exotic flavors burst in his mouth. 

"My god!" exclaimed Sebastian in surprise and delight "This is amazing!"

Sashanya squealed happily as she jumped up and down "Yes! Didn't I tell you I'm the best of the best?"

Sebastian laughed as he took another sip "What - how are you not a bartender?"

"Thanks, Seb." said Sashanya pretending to be offended but she was genuinely pleased that Sebastian liked her cocktails. 

Sebastian watched Sashanya pour herself a drink "What I mean is - this is great. You're bloody brilliant at making drinks. You could be like a professional."

"Ah, well, practice makes perfect." said Sashanya modestly as she sipped on her sangria. 

"How do you know to make cocktails so well? " asked Sebastian curiously. 

"I don't know. I guess it's something that I've always wanted to learn and I did. Then I kept on making drinks and I guess I became the Queen of Cocktails!" said Sashanya with a wink. 

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya admiringly "Is there anything you can't do? You can act, sing, dance, make cocktails - what else?"

"Stop it." said Sashanya as she smiled at Sebastian "You're amazing too."

"I'm not." said Sebastian shyly. 

"You are. I think you're a brilliant actor. The way you act - it's just so indescribable and inspiring." said Sashanya looking at Sebastian with admiration "You really put your heart and soul into your work and I think that's amazing. And bonus point, you're a kind person."

Sebastian looked at her in silence, stunned and surprised at her words. Then he smiled shyly at her "Thanks, Sashanya."

Sashanya smiled softly at him and Sebastian felt himself grow warm and added "But I'm not as good as you."

"What? You are!" said Sashanya in surprise "You're better than me!"

"I'm not. I can't dance with high heels on." said Sebastian with a grin and Sashanya laughed. 

"Fair point."

"You were great tonight, by the way." said Sebastian as he finished his drink and Sashanya poured him another "Absolutely show stopping."

"Oh thank you. Did you enjoy it?" asked Sashanya with a shy smile. 

"I loved every moment of your performance." said Sebastian honestly making Sashanya smile brightly "You're different up there."

"Different how?" asked Sashanya as she drank her sangria. 

"I mean - you're so loud and confident and magnetic and you - you're invincible." said Sebastian "But with me, you're quiet and thoughtful and still magnetic and beautiful."

Sashanya laughed lightly "Being on stage does that. The adrenaline and the excitement - I can't help but dance around and shout and sing - that confidence it doesn't come from me, it comes to me through the crowd. I am confident in my performance but - but I feel incredibly happy when people share and sing along with me. That's why - it's like letting go of all my worries and restrictions when I'm up there. When I'm up there, singing I feel free. I don't know how else to describe it."

"It sounds like an incredible feeling." said Sebastian softly. 

"It is. It's the best feeling in the world." said Sashanya as she finished her sangria "It's so addictive and indescribably wonderful. Once you get a taste of it, you never want to let go."

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya as he pondered over her words and Sashanya grinned at Sebastian "So, what do you want to do? I have movies and a drawer full of take out menus."

Sebastian smiled happily as Sashanya who seemed unusually relaxed and chilled. Whenever he saw her and spent time with her at work, she was lovely, kind, smart and gracious but Sebastian felt that she had her guard up. But tonight, all her guards were down, and she looked so young and free and happy. 

"I am hungry." said Sebastian with a grin.

"Great. I'm starving too." said Sashanya and she stands up and walks into the living room and Sebastian follows her "What do you want to eat?"

Sebastian thinks for a minute and replied "Pizza."

"Say no more, Seb. I've got this." said Sashanya with a light laugh "I know the perfect place for pizza."

Sebastian watches with a loopy smiles as Sashanya runs into the kitchen and he sits down and makes himself comfortable on the comfy couch. Sashanya comes back soon from the kitchen, with the phone to her ear, talking to someone. 

"Hey Marissa." greets Sashanya in a friendly tone to the person on the other side of the line as she walks around aimlessly in the living room "How are you doing? Oh me - I'm great - just finished a show. Oh, you don't say, darling. What? Really? Oh, how is everyone? Oh, the kids ... they grow up so fast. So proud. Okay, darling, yes, you know me so well - just the usual but let's double the brownies and the chicken wings. Thank you, you're a goddess. Okay, I'll see Jason soon."

Sashanya finished the call to see an amused Sebastian looking at her and she shrugged at him with a smile "What? I know Marissa and she loves to talk. She runs the place along with her family. I normally order a large supreme pizza with chicken wings and brownies for dessert. How does that sound?"

"Awesome!" said Sebastian cheerfully, his mouth watering and his stomach growling. 

Sashanya laughed as she watches Sebastian stand up and walk towards her movie collection. He browses through her vast number of movies which are of different genres and mismatched taste that makes it impossible to categorize what Sashanya is a fan of. Then he smiles as he finds the perfect movie. 

"Shall we watch a movie?" asks Sebastian with a smile as he shows Sashanya the movie he found. 

Sashanya's smile grows wider and genuine as she sees which movie Sebastian had chosen "Aladdin. A man after my own heart."

Sebastian grinned and winked at her and puts on the movie. Sebastian sits down at the opposite end of Sashanya who was sprawling lazily on the comfy couch wrapped in a comfortable blanket, looking all cute and cuddly. Sashanya hated when people talked during movies, it disturbed and distracted her from experiencing the magic of the movie fully and it was also disrespectful to the people who worked hard to bring the movie to life. But although they began to watch the movie silently, as it progressed they would make quiet remarks and witty jokes and sing along to the songs and laugh at brilliance of the genie together. Sashanya didn't like it when people disturbed her while watching her favorite movies but she found that she enjoyed Sebastian's company during the movie.

Halfway through the movie, someone knocked on the door and Sashanya groaned, not wanting to get up, making Sebastian laugh. But she got up and opened the door to find Jason, the pizza delivery guy smiling at her cockily. 

"Hey, Sashanya. Happy Valentines Day"

"Hi, Jason." greeted Sashanya. Jason was the eighteen year old foster son of Marissa and her husband Mario and worked with them as a pizza delivery guy. "Thanks, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing fine." said Jason nonchalantly and gives her the boxes "Here's your order of large supreme pizza with double batches of chicken wings and brownies."

Sashanya gives Jason the cash and an extra generous tip for the boy "Thanks, Sashanya. Enjoy your food."

And then, that annoying little shit, Jason, peeks over the door and sees Sebastian reclining on the couch and waggles his eyebrows meaningfully at Sashanya and says very loudly "And enjoy your date!" 

Then the teenager leaves laughing as he pockets the money and Sashanya rolls her eyes and closes the door, looking at an amused Sebastian "Teenagers. They think they know everything."

Sebastian rushes to help Sashanya, whose arms are full with the boxes and helps her with setting them down on the kitchen table. "Ah, don't be too hard on him, he'll learn."

Sebastian opens the pizza box, his mouth watering at the incredible scent of cheese and bacon "Wow! Fuck, this smells amazing! It looks amazing!"

"It really does." said Sashanya as she opened the box of chicken wings "Marissa has done a spectacular job! That woman knows how to make one hell of a pizza."

"Sounds like the woman of my dreams." said Sebastian teasingly as he quirked his eyebrows at her.

"Awww. Well she's happily married to the man of her dreams." replied Sashanya rolling her eyes playfully at Sebastian who laughed. 

They began to eat all the pizza and chicken wings while talking and laughing and Sebastian and Sashanya were both struck by how easy this was. How domestic this was. It was so easy to talk to each other about anything and everything that came into their minds without fearing judgement from each other. It was fun, laid-back, easy going and they both didn't have to pretend to be someone they were not with each other. 

After finishing eating, after loading the plates in the dishwasher and cleaning everything up together, Sashanya and Sebastian stumbled onto the sofa with happy stomachs, as started to watch the movie that they had paused half way through. They munch their brownies, marveling at the sweet and delicious chocolaty miracle that Marissa had created. Although they were sprawled on the opposite ends of the couch, their feet were tangled together lazily and both of them were comfortable to object to it. 

"God I feel so full." remarked Sebastian as he looked sleepily at the empty plate lying on the coffee table.

"That's what Valentine's day is for. Eating way too much unhealthy food and watching sappy, magical movies." said Sashanya with a lazy but happy smile. 

Sashanya looked at Sebastian who was lying down on the couch, looking comfortably sleepy and she spoke up quietly "Want to share my blanket? It's big enough for both of us."

Sebastian murmured "I wouldn't say no to that."

Sashanya smiled and moved towards Sebastian and draped the blanket gently over both of them, making sure that he was warm. Sebastian smiles and they both are very aware that their sides are touching but they ignore it. Their knees are pressed together and their legs are lazily tangled together and Sashanya smooths down the blanket.

They stay quiet for a while and Sashanya realizes that for a long time she didn't have anyone who she could share the quiet with. 

But now she did. 

Sashanya feels herself getting sleepy and she rests her head upon Sebastian's chest snuggling close to him. She feels Sebastian moving close to her and leaning into her more. The pleasant buzz of sangria, the amazing food and the warmth of Sebastian makes her feel sleepier by the moment and she muffles a yawn and she slowly falls asleep, listening to the steady heartbeat of Sebastian. 

The last thing she remembers hearing before falling asleep completely was a fond and affectionate voice softly mumbling "Best Valentines Day Ever."


	7. Chapter 7

Sashanya mumbles incoherently as the sunlight streams into the room through the windows. It's too bright and she opens her eyes and squints, trying to make sense of it all. She closes her eyes and suddenly her eyes fly open when she realizes that she is tucked safely between comfortable and strong arms. All the memories of last night flood back to her and she remembers who she is with.

She turns her head to see Sebastian sleeping peacefully next to her, gently snoring as the golden rays of sunlight caress his face, making him look more handsome and adorable. She smiled gently as she hums contently and she can't deny that this feels good, this feels right. This feels like where she was meant to be her whole life. Sebastian mumbles something and gently squeezes her, pulling her closer towards him. Sashanya feels his breath fanning her cheek and she closes her eyes and tries to memorize this incredible feeling of closeness and peace that she was feeling right now. Sashanya was feeling relaxed and she watched Sebastian sleeping and smiles at how peaceful and beautiful he looks in the morning. Waking up to Sebastian was a goddamn miracle.

Sebastian nuzzled Sashanya's hair before his eyes fluttered open and he sleepily blinked his eyes as he looked at her "Hey, good morning."

God, even his morning voice was so sexy. It made something hopeful flutter in Sashanya's stomach as she smiled softly at him "Morning."

Sebastian smiled sleepily and Sashanya's heart fluttered at how adorable he was "How are you so beautiful even in the morning?"

Sashanya laughed softly as she tenderly traced Sebastian's cheek "I'm not. I'm a mess."

"You're beautiful." murmured Sebastian and Sashanya felt his arm tighten around her. Sashanya wondered whether this was all normal for just friends. Just friends fall asleep together, right? Sashanya wrote amazing songs about romance but when it came to understanding them, she was hopeless and clueless.

Sashanya smiled at Sebastian and he smiled back at her, their legs still tangled together and Sashanya whispered, afraid to break this spell "We never got to finish the movie."

"All that food and your blanket - I couldn't stay awake." said Sebastian and Sashanya giggled "I fell asleep right away."

"Me too." said Sashanya and she looks into Sebastian's piercing ocean blue eyes and feels herself sinking but she doesn't mind it.

Sebastian's and Sashanya's moment of peace was disturbed by a crash in the kitchen, which startled them. Sashanya jumped up, immediately untangling herself from Sebastian and Sebastian stood up swiftly, with a protective stance.

"Someone's in here." said Sebastian looking at Sashanya in worry and protectiveness.

"That's impossible. The only people - but no, it can't be -" said Sashanya as she walked quietly but swiftly towards a picture where she placed her hand and picture flung open revealing a hidden gun.

"You have a gun in your penthouse?" asked Sebastian taken aback, his jaw dropping to the floor.

"I'm a single woman living in New York." said Sashanya looking at Sebastian as if he had asked something stupid "Of course, I have a gun."

"Is it weird that I'm turned on by that?" asked Sebastian mischievously and Sashanya rolled her eyes at him.

They heard some more sounds coming and Sashanya loaded her gun and looked at Sebastian "Get behind me."

Sashanya slowly walked into the kitchen followed by Sebastian and pointed her gun "Hands up!"

"Jesus Christ! Don't shoot!" yelped a girl with dark hair as she fell down "It's just me!"

Sashanya looked exasperated as she put her gun down and sighed "What the hell? I could have killed you!"

"Not if I had killed you first." said the girl with a cheeky grin.

"With what? A frying pan?" asked Sashanya eyeing the frying pan that the girl was holding "What the hell are you doing here?"

The girl gave Sashanya a Cheshire cat smile as she shook her head at her "Hello sister dear. Good morning to you too."

"Sister?" exclaimed Sebastian in surprise.

Sashanya walked towards her sister and giving her, her trademark Big Sis Hug and lifting her up off the ground, making her squeal and laugh like a child "I missed you too, asshole."

"It's so good to see you, sister. It's been a few months." said her sister as she hugged Sashanya back and grinned at her as they broke the hug and her eyes flitted with interest and curiousity towards Sebastian who was standing in the kitchen.

Natalie looked at her sister with her trademark, trouble-making smirk "Sashanya, aren't you going to introduce me to your _friend_?"

Sashanya glares at her sister who smirks at her knowingly and looks at Sebastian with a smile "Sebastian, meet my annoying, little sister ... Natalie. Natalie, this is Sebastian."

Natalie walked towards Sebastian and offered her hand with a smile "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine." said Sebastian genuinely, shaking her hand in amusement.

"Would you like to stay for breakfast, Sebastian?" asked Natalie graciously and then grinned jokingly at him "Or would you like to stay _forever_?"

"Natalie!" groaned Sashanya feeling embarrassed, burying her face in her hands.

Sebastian laughed in good humor as he answered charmingly and genuinely "Breakfast sounds great, thanks. If it's no trouble."

"Oh of course not." said Natalie shaking her head "I love cooking. And it's not often I get to meet my sister's _friends._ "

"Natalie, please stop talking." groaned Sashanya wishing she could just drag her sister and throw her off the penthouse as Sebastian started to laugh.

Natalie rolled her eyes at Sashanya and Sashanya sat down at the kitchen table along with Sebastian "You took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting you. Was it too much for you to just call me and give me a heads up?"

"I wanted to surprise you." said Natalie with a smile as she put the kettle on "And it worked didn't it?"

"I almost shot you ... so yes, it did work." said Sashanya rolling her eyes at her sister and Sebastian snorted in laughter "When did you arrive?"

"Today morning. Came straight here. Walked in on you two snuggling, all cosy and cute." said Natalie conversationally

Sashanya looked at an amused Sebastian apologetically "Please ignore her."

Sebastian grinned at Sashanya who looked adorably embarrassed "I don't mind. She's hilarious."

Natalie opened Sashanya's fridge and groaned "Sashanya, what the bloody hell? Your fridge is empty. Do you even eat?"

"Of course I eat." said Sashanya shrugging not noticing Sebastian's look of concern "I just don't cook."

"Don't I know that." said Natalie "And I also knew that you were an idiot with nothing in your fridge, so I did some shopping on the way here and got you supplies."

"That's really nice of you." said Sebastian

"I know." said Natalie as she flipped her hair making Sebastian laugh and Sashanya chuckle "I am the best sister ever. Anyway I'm almost done with breakfast, so how does bacon, french toast, waffles, fried eggs, hash browns and toast sound?"

"You're a miracle." said Sashanya with a grin.

Natalie laughed "You only say that when I cook for you."

"I do not!" said Sashanya with a laugh "I appreciate you for more than your cooking."

"Oh? Like what?" asked Natalie with a grin.

"You're ....." began Sashanya and paused purposefully to annoy her sister and she grinned when her sister rolled her eyes "Don't worry, it will come to me soon."

Sebastian laughed at the two sisters bickering and Natalie served them steaming cups of tea while eyeing both Sebastian and her sister "So, seems like you had an _eventful night_ , sister dear."

Sashanya choked on her tea and began coughing at what Natalie was implying while Sebastian patted her back in amusement.

"Nothing out of the ordinary." said Sashanya after she finished coughing, not wanting to bring Sebastian into it "Just performed at another festival for Valentine's day."

"Oh, how was it?" asked Natalie

"It was great. We sold out, the crowd was wild and crazy. Not a bad way to spend Valentines day." said Sashanya and she saw her sister look guilty and sighed.

"Hey, Natalie. It's okay. Don't worry about not coming to see me. You've seen me perform a thousand times." said Sashanya comfortingly and honestly "And besides you have your life at Harvard. That's more important."

"You study at Harvard?" asked Sebastian surprised.

"Oh yes, I'm a second year majoring in Astrophysics." said Natalie as she brightly smiled at Sebastian while serving them all their plates of breakfast. "The science of astrophysics involves the study of matter and radiation in the universe as understood through the laws of physics. It's complex and deep but it's really very interesting."

"Nerd." quipped Sashanya with a grin as she popped a piece of bacon into her mouth.

"Says the girl who graduated from Harvard Law School with Honors and did her Master of International Human Rights Law at Oxford." said Natalie with a cheeky grin as she shrugged and tucked into her breakfast.

Sebastian choked on his toast at hearing Natalie's words and Sashanya glared at Natalie who looked amused and thumped Sebastian on his back.

"You alright?" asked Sashanya looking at Sebastian with concern.

Sebastian looked at Sashanya in admiration, that made something flutter within her "You never told me you graduated from Harvard. Or that you went to Oxford."

"It's not that important." said Sashanya casually as if studying and graduating from Oxford and Harvard was something that everyone did everyday.

Natalie looked at Sebastian "She doesn't like to brag. She likes to keep those things private, to herself. And besides only a few people who are important to her know about it, just some family and friends. And now you."

"I always knew you were brilliant." said Sebastian with a cheeky grin "I never asked though ... what made you start acting?"

Natalie started laughing and even Sashanya smiled "I was a Professor at Oxford for a short time and at that time one of my friends had seen this call for audition for this movie based on a book called 'Heartless'. It was one of my favorite books so my friend dared me to go audition. I did it as a joke and I didn't expect to be chosen. Only I did get chosen and after the film was released, I was an overnight success. And everyone suddenly knew me and wanted to know me and the rest is history."

"Do you regret it?" asked Sebastian as he looked at her thoughtfully and admiringly.

Sashanya smiled "No. If I hadn't done it, I wouldn't have learned so many things and gotten so many opportunities that other people only dream of. I wouldn't have met all these incredible and talented people around me, I wouldn't have met Camren and Chloe and I wouldn't have met you."

Sebastian smiled softly and happily at Sashanya and Natalie piped in "And I wouldn't have met Tom."

Sashanya snorted in laughter and Sebastian chuckled and he complimented Natalie "Natalie, this breakfast is delicious."

"Thank you, Sebastian." said Natalie happily "He's a keeper, sis. I like him."

"I - what?" asked Sashanya taken aback with embarrassment and shock, and looked at Sebastian to see him laughing.

"Anyway, Sashanya, how are you? How's life? Is Tom dating anyone?" began Natalie in a tone of someone who needed to get something secretly without anyone noticing her.

"Why would you want to know if Tom's dating -" began Sashanya rolling her eyes and suddenly a realization struck her "Please tell me it isn't what I'm thinking."

"What isn't what you're thinking?" asked Natalie cocking her head to a side, looking puzzled.

"You know what I mean." said Sashanya looking at her sister "Do you like Tom?"

"Of course I like Tom. I've always fancied him. Everybody knows that." said Natalie casually as she sipped her tea.

"WHAT?" yelled Sashanya startling Sebastian and Natalie looked at calmly, used to her sister's antics. "Why am I the last one to know about this?"

"I thought you knew!" protested Natalie with a small smile.

"Well, clearly, I don't" said Sashanya looking bewildered. "I can't believe this."

"Oh, please." said Natalie rolling her eyes. "I'm going to ask him out."

"You are?" asked Sashanya and Sebastian together.

"Of course. But for that I need your help." said Natalie confidently looking at Sashanya.

"Absolutely not." said Sashanya shaking her head "I will not help you."

"Why not?" asked Natalie

"Well, for one, Tom is my friend and I work with him. And you are my little sister. I don't want things to get weird." said Sashanya with a small smile "And even if it goes right, you'll be surrounded by those monstrous paparazzi. I can only do so much to keep you away from the spotlight but dating Tom is - well it's going to put you right out there."

Natalie smiled as she touched her sister's arm comfortingly "I know how much you care for me but I can handle myself. I know you want to protect me but don't you also want me to be happy?"

Sashanya looked at Natalie for a moment before sighing "Yes. Yes, that is all I want for you. But I don't want you to get hurt -"

"I won't." said Natalie firmly "I know what I'm doing."

Sashanya gave her a little nod and Natalie grinned "So I was thinking maybe I could surprise Tom by visiting him on set of the movie you're doing."

"You told her about the movie?" asked Sebastian, not really surprised "The fans don't even know it yet."

"She tells me everything. I know everything about everyone on set and I also know what the movie is about." said Natalie with a grin.

Sebastian looked at Sashanya with amusement and exasperation and Sashanya shrugged innocently "What? I tell her everything. Don't worry, she can be trusted."

"I'm great at secrets." said Natalie with a mischievous smile.

Sebastian laughed "Don't worry, I trust you. You're Sashanya's sister after all."

Natalie looked absolutely delighted "Sebastian, I like you. You're the nicest guy, my sister's ever dated! We have to get to know each other. Maybe you can help me ask out Tom."

Sashanya was mortified at her little sister's behavior and she couldn't even look at Sebastian in embarrassment.

She thought that Sebastian was going to deny and correct her sister but to her surprise, Sebastian chuckled in delight as he genuinely replied "That'll be great. Although, I have to warn you Tom's a bit of a snob."

"I don't believe that." said Natalie with a laugh.

"It's true. He has an assistant who has another assistant and he just comes late to set every day." said Sebastian seriously but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Ignore him. Sebastian and Anthony love roasting Tom for no reason. But they secretly love him." said Sashanya with a fond smile, looking at Sebastian.

"We do not!" protested Sebastian pretending to be offended but smiled genuinely and happily at Sashanya.

"So? Will you get me on set?" asked Natalie pleadingly.

"I don't know. I'll try my best." said Sashanya groaning because she could never refuse her little sister's puppy eyes and her sister squealed in delight "But, I make no promises. If it doesn't work out, I'll put a good word on behalf of you to Tom."

"That's all I need!" said Natalie, squealing in delight as she hugged her sister "You're the best!"

"And if Tom hurts you, it'll give me a real reason to hate the kid." said Sebastian in amusement, watching the two sisters.

"Thanks." said Natalie with a grin and looked at her sister "So I do have your blessing right?"

"Go ahead kid. I can't stop you even if I wanted to." said Sashanya with a little sigh and a grin and Natalie hugged her again while Sebastian burst into laughter.

And amidst Sebastian's laughter and Natalie's excited chatter, Sashanya couldn't help but feel happy, content and peaceful for the first time in a long time.

It felt like home.


	8. Chapter 8

"So, I have an idea." said Tom who was sitting cross legged as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Sashanya and Tom were taking a break from filming and they were eating lunch, their favorite sandwiches dressed in their superhero costumes. 

So to anyone looking in, it looked like Batgirl and Spiderman taking a break from saving the world and gossiping while eating sandwiches together. 

"Oh no." said Sashanya pretending to be shocked but she grinned "Let's hear it."

"So, basically we're going to announce the movie at Comic - Con right? What if -" began Tom excitedly but Sashanya interrupted. 

"If you're asking me to leak this shit and get fired, I am not in." said Sashanya with a laugh as she took a bite of her own sandwich. 

"I am not! Just hear me out!" protested Tom but he was grinning too "So I was thinking, we could like go to Comic - Con before the panel starts - and cosplay like our characters!"

"Like explore Comic Con in our superhero suits? Me as Batgirl and you as Spiderman?" asked Sashanya stunned "Marvel and DC will be mad!"

"But they have no reason to be! We're wearing masks, so no one will recognize us." said Tom in excitement "And even if they did, so what? There's no rule saying that two friends can't go to Comic - Con together dressed as their favorite characters!"

A slow and brilliant smile graced Sashanya's face, not believing that she was actually considering Tom's idea "It's a terrible idea and it'll probably piss off the people who hired us."

Sashanya grinned at her friend, Tom "Let's do it!"

"Yes!" yelled Tom in excitement punching the air with his fist, making Sashanya laugh "It'll be awesome!"

"Amen to that." said Sashanya laughing and then an idea struck her "We should probably invite a few of our friends as well."

"Yeah, the more the merrier!" said Tom, nodding his head in agreement "We should ask Noah, Curren, Camren and Chloe to join in! Do you think they would want to come?"

"Are you kidding me? They live for this kind of thing." said Sashanya with a grin making Tom laughing.

"That's settled. I'll text them on our group-chat about our plan." said Tom with a smile as he took his phone. 

"Cool." said Sashanya and then took a deep breath, ready to execute her plan "Actually, I was thinking - if it's okay with you - someone else could also join our adventure?"

"Sure. Who is it?" asked Tom looking up from his phone and taking a bite of his sandwich. 

"Natalie. She loves Comic - Con." said Sashanya with a smile but at that moment Tom started choking on his sandwich when he heard Natalie's name. 

Sashanya furrowed her eyebrows in concern as she thumped Tom in the back "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm great." said Tom, a little breathlessly and looked at Sashanya "Natalie? Is she back in New York?"

"Well -" began Sashanya taking Tom's enthusiasm as a plus point but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the entrance of Robert, Anthony, Camren, Chloe and Sebastian.

Sashanya smiled shyly at Sebastian who was in his Winter Soldier costume which made him look super hot and Sebastian smiled back. Anthony Mackie greeted the two of them with a grin. 

"Well, if it isn't Batgirl and Spidey Kid having a lunch break." 

"We'd offer you a sandwich except we finished all of them." said Sashanya with a smirk, making Tom chuckle.

"It's okay, I don't need your stupid sandwich." said Anthony rolling his eyes making Sashanya, Robert, Tom, Sebastian, Chloe and Camren laugh. 

"So what's up, kiddos?" asked Robert as he put his arm around Tom.

"Nothing." said Tom immediately, looking innocent and exchanging looks with Sashanya, Camren and Chloe.

Anthony, Sebastian and Robert looked at Tom suspiciously "What are you hiding, kid?"

"Nothing. Actually - we were just talking about -" began Tom, stammering nervously because he wanted to hide the Comic - Con adventure from the adults. Tom's eyes fell on Sashanya and he smiled at her apologetically "About Sashanya's crush!"

"DUDE!" exclaimed Sashanya loudly, as she glared murderously at Tom while Camren and Chloe started laughing. 

"A crush? Girl, dish all the details!" said Anthony with a mischievous grin. 

"There's nothing to dish." said Sashanya as she looked at Sebastian who seemed to have gone from his relaxed expression to a stiff yet curious expression "Tom's just being an idiot."

"C'mon don't be shy." said Robert, joining in the fun and Sashanya glared at Tom, wishing that she could punch him in the face "Tell us about him. Do we know him?"

Sashanya was about to tell Robert to fuck off in a nice manner but at that moment Tom's jaw dropped as he let out a sudden, little, awed gasp. Sashanya and the rest of them looked at what had Tom so wonder struck and it was none other than a girl with long, silky dark hair wearing a simple T - shirt and jeans and casual sneakers walking towards them. 

Sashanya looked at the girl in surprise and exasperation "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Hello sister dear. It's nice to see you too." asked Natalie with a cocky smile.

"This is your sister?" asked Anthony Mackie in surprise as he looked at the girl and then Sashanya noticing the similarities between them. 

"You didn't tell them about me!" asked Natalie dramatically making Camren and Chloe laugh "I'm wounded."

"You'll heal." said Sashanya sassily as she rolled her eyes at her sister "How did you get in here? This place is under tight security."

"Oh, just used a few tips and tricks that you taught me." said Natalie confidently with a grin and then when Sashanya gave her a pointed stare, she shrugged with a pleasant smile "What? Wasn't it you who taught me that being nice and polite gets you through the doors?"

Sebastian looked at Sashanya with a pleasant and genuine smile and Sashanya smiled a little "I'm impressed you remembered that. And followed it." 

"What a surprise. You always underestimate my love for you." said Natalie with a laugh making Sashanya chuckle. 

Sashanya then turned towards her co stars and introduced her sister "Natalie, this is Anthony, Sebastian, and Robert."

Sashanya didn't want anyone else to know that her sister had met Sebastian before and she continued "Guys, this is my little sister, Natalie. Do not be fooled by her innocent appearance, she is the devil incarnate."

"Is she always this charming?" asked Robert with a grin as he shook Natalie's hand. 

"First born. Heavy is the head that wears the crown." said Natalie with a charming smile that made everyone feel at ease. 

Sashanya rolled her eyes as everyone chuckled at Natalie's words and tried to ignore the serious and affectionate way Sebastian was looking at her. Chloe and Camren came forward and hugged Natalie and greeted her. They already knew her sister because they were her best friends and they all got along well together. Her sister was like Chloe's and Camren's little sister and Sashanya knew that Camren and Chloe loved and cared for Natalie very much. 

Then Natalie's eyes fell on Tom and she smiled at him brightly "Hey Tom, long time, no see."

Sashanya exchanged a knowing glance with an amused Sebastian who was trying to hide his smile and Tom started to stammer nervously as he looked at Natalie. 

"Yeah, yeah. Hey. Um - you look really great."

Sashanya rolled her eyes as Natalie beamed back at Tom "Thank you. I must say you look quite dashing and heroic yourself in that suit of yours. Blue and red, really is your color."

"You think so?" asked Tom breathlessly with a smile that could only be described as love struck. 

"Mmmhmm." said Natalie with a flirtatious giggle and Sashanya was seconds away from face palming herself "You are wonderful."

"Thanks." managed Tom who was blushing a tomato red "Um - uh - I thought you were at Harvard. You back in New York?"

"Oh yes. I just came to visit Sashanya." said Natalie conversationally with a bright smile.

"That's great. Awesome!" said Tom enthusiastically and Sashanya looked to see Camren and Chloe suppressing their giggles, Sebastian looking like this was the best thing that had happened the entire day, Anthony Mackie looking absolutely and utterly confused and Robert watching them interact knowingly and understandingly. 

"So, how's your major in Astrophysics at Harvard?" asked Tom from Natalie. 

"Oh, it's incredible." said Natalie enthusiastically and Sashanya was impressed that Tom actually remembered what her sister was doing and she internally groaned because once her sister started talking about her love for this particular subject, she never stopped. "I'm actually involved in this fascinating research regarding dark energy and dark matter!"

"That sounds amazing!" said Tom, sounding genuinely enthusiastic about it "Good for you! I'm sure your absolutely killing the darkness with your brightness!"

Sashanya, Anthony and Robert groaned collectively and Chloe and Camren burst into giggles while Sebastian snorted in laughter. 

Tom blushed embarrassed at his pun but Natalie seemed to find it silly and funny as she threw her head back and laughed "That's so sweet of you, Tom!"

Tom blushed a brilliant scarlet, it was Blush Central in there as he replied "You should tell me about your research sometime."

"That sounds great." said Natalie with a smile "How about at dinner tonight?"

Everyone stared at the two of them in surprise and Tom looked stunned and taken aback. After a moment's silence, Tom looked at Natalie with an awed expression his wide eyes "Tonight? Dinner? With you?"

"I believe you just repeated the substance of the sentence my sister told you earlier." said Sashanya sarcastically 

"That's if you're not busy." said Natalie suddenly shy all of a sudden "I understand if you have plans ma -"

"No, god no!" said Tom loudly, shaking his head "Oh my god, I'm such an idiot! What I mean is, yes, I would love to have dinner with you and listen to you talk about dark matter!"

"Really?" asked Natalie happily.

"Yes!" said Tom with a beaming grin "Where are we meeting?"

"I know this lovely restaurant. I'll text you the details." said Natalie, her smile worth a million bucks. 

"Great!" said Tom with a dazzling grin "I can't wait!"

"Seven 'o' clock. Don't be late." said Natalie with an excited smile as she gave a quick kiss to Tom's cheek and left with the words "I'll be waiting."

As soon as Natalie was out of their sight, Camren and Chloe started squealing in delight and even Sashanya was grinning. Camren started sobbing dramatically "Our baby girl is growing up!"

"What the fuck just happened?" burst out Anthony who looked dazed and confused "What the holy fuck did I just witness?"

"The kid here just got asked out on a date tonight by Sashanya's sister!" said Robert as he grinned and patted a frozen Tom on the back. 

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya as he whispered to her "Looks like it worked. Natalie and Tom are finally going out!"

"I know!" said Sashanya with a huge smile "I can't believe my little girl is growing up!" 

Sebastian laughed lightly as he looked at Sashanya affectionately "You act all tough around her but you secretly love her."

"Eh, don't tell her." said Sashanya rolling her eyes playfully. 

Sebastian laughed and looked at Anthony who was ranting "BUT TOMMY IS JUST A CHILD! HE IS A BABY!"

"Stop being dramatic. The kid's old enough to date." said Robert with a grin as he ruffled Tom's hair. 

"WHAT? IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL FOR THAT CHILD TO DATE!" said Anthony tearing his hair apart and his eyes looked suspiciously wet "THE KID DRINKS FROM A JUICE BOX EVERYDAY!"

"Anthony are you getting emotional over Tom?" asked Camren with a grin. "I thought you hated him."

"I do!" said Anthony defensively "I just don't want that poor, innocent girl getting into a mess."

"That poor, innocent girl is my sister and Anthony, you shouldn't worry. She can handle herself." said Sashanya with a grin, making Sebastian laugh. 

"Guys, I think we need to do something about Tom." said Chloe in concern. "Poor thing is frozen after Natalie kissed him on the cheek."

"Oh dear." sighed Sashanya and shrugged as she looked at everyone "Don't worry, I got this."

She walked towards Tom and shook him by the shoulders. When Tom didn't move, she gently slapped Tom, waking him out of his reverie. 

Tom looked at Sashanya with nervousness and amazement in his expression as he said slowly "I'm going on a date with your sister."

"I know, buddy." said Sashanya comfortingly "You're willingly signing up for a lifetime of craziness and torture but you can't get there if you are going to be frozen here all day."

"Aren't you mad?" Tom whispered quietly "I'm going on a date with you sister."

"Tom, I love Natalie and I know you do too." said Sashanya whispering with a sigh and a small sigh, that no one else could hear "And I know you make her happy but if you ever hurt her I swear I will break your bones and make you understand the meaning of pain."

Tom looked at Sashanya with solemnly and smiled at her understandingly "I get it. But I promise it won't come to that."

"I know it won't." said Sashanya shrugging with a grin. "You've been my friend for such a long time. I know you well."

"Then why did you do that whole threatening speech?" asked Tom puzzled. 

"Aww, c'mon! I'm a big sister! I've always wanted to do that!" said Sashanya with a laugh making Tom laugh as he hugged her. 

"Thanks Sashanya."

"Anytime Tom."


	9. Chapter 9

It was finally here. Comic - Con had finally arrived to New York and Sashanya was very excited. They were currently on stand by, ready to do a panel to officially announce their new movie 'Batgirl: The Court of Avengers'. Tom, Sashanya, Curren, Noah, Camren, and Chloe had dressed up as their characters and paraded around Comic - Con before the panel began. So Spiderman, Batgirl, Red Hood, Nightwing, Catwoman and Black Canary had wandered around Comic - Con talking to their fans who recognized them, taking pictures with the cos-players, buying comic books, posters and toys that caught their fancy and even going so far as to buy their fans what they wanted. All though the fans recognized them, the didn't get mobbed but instead everyone was very respectful, kind and enthusiastic, sharing their love for the characters that the young actors portrayed. It was a good time until they realized that they had a panel to get ready for, so they said their goodbyes to their new friends and wistfully and regretfully left the fun to get to their work. It didn't take long for the representatives of Marvel and DC to find out and to say that they were pissed was an understatement. But surprisingly Mandy and Tom's agent, Curtis Brown had stepped up for the kids and clearly and sharply explained to the representatives that the young actors hadn't broken any of the rules set by Marvel and DC, they were merely youngsters trying to enjoy a fun and creative convention. They hadn't revealed anything about the movie and they were seen by the fans as a group of friends having fun at Comic - Con, so there was no harm or damage done. Marvel and DC could not argue with that, so they left Sashanya, Noah, Chloe, Camren, Curren and Tom alone. 

Now they were chattering excitedly as the interviewer was announcing them to the impatient and loud audience and Mandy looked at Sashanya with a silent look which Sashanya understood very well "You're up first. Don't mess up."

"And now introducing the crossover we have all been waiting for our whole lives, the incredible Batgirl from the DC Universe and the Awesome Avengers from Marvel!" yelled the interviewer, making the crowd cheer loudly "It's finally here! It's none other spectacular and talented cast of 'Batgirl: The Court of Avengers!' here with us today!"

The interviewer then announced the director, the producer, the screenwriter and then ....

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please put your hands together for the legendary and beautiful woman who brings Batgirl to life with grace and talent .... It's Sashanya Silva!" boomed the interviewer and the crowd went absolutely wild and crazy.

Sashanya took in a deep breath to calm herself and then walked out on stage with a perfect smile as she waved at the fans who were cheering wildly for her. She greeted the interviewer and blew kisses at the fans as she sat down at her place. Then he next announced Chloe, Camren, Noah, Curren, Robert, Tom, Sebastian, Anthony, Benedict, Scarlett and Chris. Everyone clapped madly and cheered loudly for their favorite and talented actors as they took their places and waved at the cheering crowd. 

"Hey guys!" greeted the interviewer enthusiastically "Isn't this great! How are you?"

"This is amazing!" cheered Anthony, getting the fans pumped up.

"This is the dream crossover for all Marvel and DC fans!" said the interviewer "The Legends of DC and the Avengers of Marvel have joined forces at last!"

Sashanya grinned as she waved at her fans and the directors, James Fletcher and Patty Jenkins, the screenwriter Jessica Mitchell and the producer David Miller answer the basic and common questions asked by every panel interviewer. Sashanya listened to the three incredibly hardworking and talented souls talking with great passion about why they bought this movie to life, from where they got this idea, the writing process, the producing process, the directing process and the challenges of filming this movie. 

Then the interviewer looked at Sashanya "Sashanya, you play the incredible and iconic, Batgirl." The interviewer paused as the crowd and her co -stars started clapping and cheering enthusiastically for her. "How did you get involved in acting for this movie?"

"It's not the most entertaining story but I'll tell you." said Sashanya with a smile, making everyone laugh "So, I first met Patty and James through Mandy, at a party. And James - he was like - I think you were a bit tipsy, James -" Sashanya grinned making James laugh and nod. 

"I was. I was pissed." remarked James and everyone laughed. 

"Yeah, and James was just like 'hey, kid, you're bat-girl right? Don't tell anyone but I've got a top secret mission for you.'" began Sashanya doing a spot on impression, making everyone laugh "And I was like 'James, I think you've had enough beers for tonight mate' but then he told me he was planning to direct a crossover film between DC and Marvel, with Batgirl and the Avengers. And then he told me not to tell anyone."

"You actually kept it a secret." said James nodding his head in approval with a smile as everyone laughed "That's how I knew you're the one!"

"Yeah, and then we all got called for a top secret meeting." said Sashanya with a shrug "Where they officially announced it to us that we'll be doing this movie together."

"But you knew before that?" asked Benedict Cumberbatch. 

"Oh yeah." said Sashanya casually "But, I gave my word to James, not to tell about it to anyone."

"I really appreciate that." said James and Sashanya grinned. 

"Now, see there, Tom." said Sebastian looking at Tom in a reprimanding manner "Learn from Sashanya. That's how you keep secrets."

"I can keep secrets!" protested Tom as everyone laughed. 

"So, Sashanya, tell us about Batgirl? What was challenging about bringing Batgirl to life?" 

"Batgirl is indescribable." began Sashanya passionately because she loved Batgirl "I don't have one word to sum her up her whole character. She is an incredibly fierce, intelligent, sharp and strong hero but she is also this - how do I describe it? She is also a girl. A woman. A woman who has gone through so much of trauma and heartache in her life and is still standing up strong. So what was challenging about bringing her to life was that she is an incredibly complex, deep and flawed person. And that's - just bringing life into the strong and unbreakable hero while still showing that she is a kind and flawed human being was probably the hardest part."

Everyone clapped, whistled and cheered and Sashanya was sure she heard Noah and Curren yell "DAMN GIRL!"

"Of course, you play Batgirl in the TV series but this is the movie. So how will the production bring something different to the story of Batgirl?"

"Well, the TV series has two seasons, each with about twenty episodes. Meanwhile the movie is just two hours." answered Camren sarcastically making Sashanya snort in laughter and everyone laugh. 

"Magic!" exclaimed Tom with a grin.

"I think the movie is more focused on how the Batgirl deals with the arrival of the Avengers while trying to eradicate corruption from Gotham." said Jessica Mitchell "And also we get to see Batgirl in action ... how she deals with issues like identity, trauma, sexism and the script really takes on all of that. And of course, Sashanya brings the script to life superbly, you don't want to miss seeing her in action!"

Sashanya smiled shyly as she hugged Jessica and said "I couldn't do it without you, Jess."

"So Sashanya is it true that in this movie, you have two love interests?" asked the interviewer making everyone swoon and laugh "Is it true that you are stuck in a love triangle with Nightwing and the Winter Soldier?"

Sashanya looked to see Noah grinning at her and Sebastian smiling at her mischievously and she smiled at everyone "What? I did not know that!"

Camren, Chloe and Sashanya started laughing together and the interviewer persisted "C'mon, tell us what Batgirl get up to! Give us the dirty secrets."

"Actually, Batgirl gets to meet some dope heroes, beat the bad guys and save the city all while looking amazing." said Sashanya with a bright grin. 

"And that's the movie summed up for you!" said Scarlett clapping and smiling in amusement. 

"And you can print that!" said Chloe with a giggle making everyone laugh. 

As the interviewer continued asking questions from the cast, Sashanya fell into a thoughtful silence. The movie did have a love triangle between Batgirl, Nightwing and Winter Soldier. Sashanya generally disliked love triangles in movies, she thought it was messy and complicated and unnecessary. But James and Patty had assured her that the love triangle would not take away the substance and character of Batgirl and turn Batgirl into a whining, crying, pathetic, heartbroken girl. Sashanya, Patty and James had the same objective of portraying Batgirl as an independent and fierce hero who had a compassionate heart and a fire burning within her to save Gotham. She had kissed both Noah and Sebastian for the movie. Sashanya had kissed Noah before because they played Nightwing and Batgirl in the TV series, the flirtatious kids who didn't see that all they were searching for was right beside them their whole life. It was normal and part of their professional job of acting for Noah and Sashanya and it didn't make things weird between them. In fact, they were very good friends, even though people thought that they were secretly dating. But Sashanya and Sebastian had shared a brief but emotional and passionate kiss on screen as Batgirl and Winter Soldier for the movie. And after it was over, Sashanya felt her heart beating erratically, her mind racing and all her emotions tangled up in a mess. That was not normal for her. She had kissed many actors before for films and TV shows but none of them made her feel this way. After the kiss, she had tried her very best to calm down, pretend like it never happened and get along with Sebastian as best as she could without making a fool of herself. She was grateful for her work where she flew from one country to another, one timezone to another, to film scenes for various other TV shows and movies that she was starring in, to perform her music for fans at booked venues, to laugh and chat with people on talk shows and to model for millions of photo shoots around the world. Her work kept her busy and occupied, and it kept her from thinking about Sebastian's lips on hers gently and sensually moving against her own. 

"And now, let's open the panel for some fan questions!" said the interviewer excitedly and Sashanya felt herself relax and get more excited because fan questions were genuine, well thought out and incredibly fun. 

"Hi everyone, I'm Max." said a sandy haired boy and the cast members smiled at him "Who are you most looking forward to seeing at Comic Con? Are you fans of anyone here?"

"I'm a huge fan of Sashanya Silva." remarked Sebastian casually, making the crowd scream wildly, the cast laugh and Sashanya blush "She's so talented and like - I can't even begin to describe how amazing she is. I hope I get to meet her."

"I'm sure you will." said Sashanya with a laugh.

"OH MY GOD!" screamed Sebastian and Anthony in excitement as they looked at Sashanya pretending to hyperventilate "IT'S HER!"

Everyone laughed and Camren looked mischievously at Sashanya "Sashanya is there anyone in specific you would like to meet?"

"Actually ..." began Sashanya hesitantly making everyone chuckle.

"Tell the truth." said Noah with a laugh. 

"Um - yes - I do actually have someone I would like to meet." said Sashanya in excitement "I would really like to meet Matthew Daddario"

The crowd cheered happily at her answer and Benedict asked Sashanya in confusion "Who's Matthew Daddario?"

"He is a very lovely, very talented actor who plays Alec Lightwood in Shadowhunters. Which happens to be one of my favorite TV shows." answered Sashanya in excitement "Actually, I would really like to meet the whole cast of Shadowhunters ... they are so awesome!"

Everyone laughed and another girl stood up and asked a question "What's it like working with Sashanya?"

Sashanya smiled as she looked down shyly and Robert Downey Jr answered "I think I speak for everyone when I say that we have only good things to say about Sashanya. She is very talented and she really took our breath away when she portrayed Batgirl. I think there is no one better to act Batgirl than her."

The whole cast nodded and cheered in agreement and Sashanya shook her head in embarrassment. Tom Holland smiled at Sashanya "I've known her for a long time, so I can say this with confidence. I think she's incredible and she's so good at what she does. She just comes on set and when the cameras start rolling you don't see Sashanya. You see Batgirl."

"Exactly!" said Anthony nodding in agreement "It's not like - normally you can tell it's acting right? But like whenever Sashanya begins to act, she transforms into Batgirl. She is not an actress acting Batgirl ... she is Batgirl!" 

"Stop it, guys!" said Sashanya shyly and embarrassed and happy at all these compliments.

"I think she's a natural." said Scarlett with a grin at a blushing Sashanya "She knows what she's doing and she's strong and sweet. She's our cinnamon roll."

"I think all of us agree that she must be protected at all costs." said Chris Evans solemnly but his lips were twitching in a smile and everyone in the cast nodded in collective agreement "She's very kind, hardworking and talented."

"I just think that she's incredible. When you watch Sashanya work, you become so mesmerized by her. That's happened to a lot of us." said Sebastian proudly as he smiled at Sashanya affectionately. 

"The first time that I met you, it was at our chemistry test. And I remember you cracking like a joke before we began and then when we did the audition together - you didn't stick to the script - you improvised a lot and like I found that it was really easy to go along with your improvised lines." said Noah admiringly to Sashanya who smiled "Like I'm not very good at improv but you make it easy."

"No, you're amazing." said Sashanya with a lovely smile. 

"I quite like when she improvises. It's really funny and it takes everyone by surprise but you have to keep going on with it." said Curren with a grin and a wink at Sashanya.

"You have to be better!" piped in Camren as she chuckled. 

"Yes!" agreed Chloe while Sashanya had her face buried into her hands in shyness, to the amusement of everyone "Like, with Sashanya you always have to be the best because she's like constantly five steps ahead of you... and that's really good, so you have to be faster and smarter and wittier"

"It's really a learning experience." said Benedict wisely. 

"Please stop talking." mumbled Sashanya and Camren hugged her while everyone laughed in amusement at the shy girl. "You all are amazing. It's me who is privileged to work with you all."

All of them smiled at her and continued on answering fan questions and then a man with rugged looks and a bushy beard stood up, grinning at them salaciously "This question is for the females of the cast. Do you ever call dibs on a guy?"

"What?" asked Sashanya confused while Camren, Chloe and Scarlett looked disgusted "I don't understand."

"Do you ever call di -" the guy began repeating his question but Scarlett cut him off sharply. 

"We heard you the first time, thank you very much." said Scarlett with a hint of sharpness in her tone. 

"What's a dibs?" asked Sashanya scrunching up her face in confusion and Sebastian thought that it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. 

"Oh my god, protect this innocent child." said Anthony protectively as he glared at the man who asked that offending question. 

Noah ignored Anthony and began to explain to Sashanya "It's like - so take it like this. When a couple of guys like the same girl, they call dibs on her. Whoever calls the dibs first, will get the chance of flirting with that girl."

"It's like calling shotgun to sit in the passenger seat of the car." elaborated Tom and he was smacked by Sebastian over his head. 

"If the guy can't pull a date or a phone number within two and a half weeks, it goes on to the next man." said Curren with a shrug "The whole process starts again and the first person to 'call dibs' will have the full freedom to flirt with the girl."

Sashanya was taken aback and shocked at the revelation and Robert looked concerned "Sashanya, are you alright?"

"Do you mean to say people actually do this?" asked Sashanya from the fan who asked the question.

"Yeah, all the time." said the fan casually shrugging as if it was no big deal "The question is .... do you?"

"No." replied Sashanya immediately, her tone conveying extreme disgust and seriousness "We feel like it objectifies men and that's not what we're really about."

Sebastian, Tom, Noah, Anthony, Robert, Benedict and Chris started clapping loudly and cheering proudly for Sashanya and the crowd joined them. 

"C'mon, you can tell us the truth." said the interviewer jokingly and Sashanya glared at him.

"The truth is that we don't see people as objects to be used, we see them as human beings deserving of respect and love." said Camren, also giving a dangerous look to the interviewer. 

"Exactly." said Scarlett, nodding her head in agreement as she looked at Chloe, Sashanya and Camren "Treat people the way you want to be treated."

"I just think it's not a nice way to treat people." said Chloe with a small smile "So we don't do that."

The man sat down disgruntled and a girl with long brown hair and curious eyes looked at Tom and Sashanya "Hi, Tom. I was just wondering - there are rumors flying around that you're dating Sashanya's sister, Natalie. Is it true?"

Tom and Sashanya both froze up at the question and Sebastian saw the fear in Sashanya's eyes and jumped to the defense "What is this? The Bachelor?"

Everyone laughed and the girl smiled as she looked at Tom innocently "I just want to know if it's true."

Tom and Sashanya exchanged worried glances, not knowing what to do or what to say. Tom and Natalie were dating. Sashanya had helped Natalie get ready for her date, listening to her sister chatter nervously and excitedly, helping her sister pick out the perfect outfit and assuring Natalie that everything was going to be perfect. Then Tom had come to pick up Natalie right on time from Sashanya's penthouse with a bouquet of red roses, looking sharp and handsome. Tom had been speechless when the door had opened and revealed a very beautiful Natalie and Natalie had blushed a brilliant red when Tom complimented her over and over again on how gorgeous she was. Sashanya had been amused at the two of them and had sent them out, wishing them all the best and warning Tom to bring her sister back before nine. They had gone to a romantic but low - key restaurant where they had, had the perfect date together without being disturbed. Their first date had gone successfully without the disturbing fans, distracting paparazzi and Natalie had not killed anyone ... so Sashanya took that as a success. After that, Tom and Natalie were inseparable, spending all their free time together, going on dates and cuddling and being the mushiest romantic couple that Sashanya had ever seen. If there was one thing Tom and Sashanya agreed upon, it was their desire to keep Natalie out of the spotlight. But somehow word had gotten out about their romance and the vultures were slowly beginning to circling their prey hungrily.

"I think I would know if Tom was dating Natalie." said Sashanya pleasantly with a charming smile but there was iciness in her eyes.

"I'm a single man." lied Tom with an fake easy going smile that fooled all the fans but not his cast members. "I'm not dating anyone."

Sashanya subtly nodded at Tom gratefully for protecting her sister and Tom's eyes silently understood. Natalie meant so much to Tom and Sashanya knew it was hurting him to lie about his relationship status but she also knew that Tom didn't want Natalie to get hurt. 

The fans continued asking questions and the cast members continued answering them. The fans joked with them and laughed with them and the interviewer called for the last question from the fans. 

A girl stood up and looked at Sashanya and Chloe "This question is for Sashanya and Chloe. How would you describe the relationship between Black Canary and Batgirl?"

Everyone 'ooohhed' and 'aaahhhed' and cheered and Sashanya and Chloe grinned at each other in delight. Chloe looked at the girl who asked that question and flipped her hair sassily "Girl! Let me tell you!"

"I just think -" began Sashanya and laughed lightly "I think - what do you think Chloe?"

"No, I want to hear what you have to say." said Chloe looking sweetly at Sashanya, making the crowd swoon.

"No you go first." said Sashanya patting Chloe's arm. "Please, I insist, go ahead."

Chloe grinned at Sashanya "Alright, if you say so, darling."

"Black Canary and Batgirl are very good friends. I think they are both fierce fighters and strong women and together they just make an awesome team." said Chloe with a big smile. 

"And, for me, personally, Black Canary is someone Batgirl trusts with her life." explained Sashanya to the rapt audience "Barbara has never pushed Dinah away and Dinah has been this one person who has seen Barbara go through so much of pain and she has been there for her best friend and she doesn't pity Barbara. She understands her. They both see each other as their equal." 

"And if you are a fan of BatCanary ..." said Chloe mentioning their characters ship name and the whole crowd started applauding wildly and Chloe and Sashanya exchanged mischievous grins "You might want to see this movie because - there are going to be some moments."

The crowd cheered and Sashanya and Chloe got up with their arms around each other and bowed which made the crowd go crazy and wild. Sashanya smiled and leaned her head on Chloe's shoulder. They both knew about how the fans loved the way Chloe and Sashanya portrayed relationship between Batgirl and Black Canary so much, that they had started shipping them romantically. Sashanya and Chloe didn't see it personally but they thought it was so amazing how the fans were able to see the love and friendship between two incredible female heroes and they both supported their fans who shipped BatCanary. 

The two girls sat down after recieving a massive round of applause and Sashanya said as Chloe clung onto her, hugging her "I love my Chloey. I love her very much."

Everyone in the audience melted as they 'awwwdd' and Chloe replied with a giggle "I love you too."

"AWWWW FRIENDSHIP GOALS!" exclaimed Cameron making everyone laugh. 

Finally, the panel finished and after waving and thanking the fans who came to see them and cheer for them, they made their way backstage. Mandy caught Sashanya and reminded her again about her schedule for the day and praised her on a job well done in handling all the questions. As Mandy left, Sashanya saw Sebastian approach her. 

"Hey." asked Sebastian with a beautiful smile that made Sashanya's heart flutter "How are you?"

"I'm good." said Sashanya with a smile "It's awesome being here. I love Comic - Con!"

Sebastian chuckled at her enthusiasm "And it loves you!"

Sashanya laughed and then she sighed "Maybe too much."

"I was thinking -" began Sebastian but he was interrupted by Tom. 

"Hey." said Tom greeting Sashanya with a fist bump.

"Hey dude. Nicely done." said Sashanya approvingly and Tom knew she meant handling the question regarding Natalie. 

"Thanks. That was a close call." said Tom with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair "And anyway, you handled it like a pro."

"What can I say? I'm an actress." said Sashanya with a mischievous grin as she flipped her hair making Tom and Sebastian laugh.

Camren and Chloe walked up towards Sashanya "Yo, Mandy is calling for you. Something about attending three more panels, a ton of interviews and another four meet and greets."

"Great." said Sashanya with a huge sigh as she smiled tiredly "I'll see you at the Batgirl meet and greet if I survive."

Everyone laughed and Sashanya sashayed away towards Mandy who led her out of the room. Once she was out of sight, Camren and Chloe exchanged worried looks with each other.

"Did you notice it?" asked Camren, raising one eyebrow perfectly as she looked at Chloe. 

"Are you kidding me? It's obvious." said Chloe nodding her head.

"Notice what?" asked Sebastian curiously.

"She's overworking." said Tom naturally, as if he had seen this before. "It won't be long before she burns herself out."

"I don't think Sashanya knows she's doing it." said Chloe in a low and worried voice. 

"What?" asked Sebastian taken aback in shock. "Why? Why would she do that?"

"Oh, Sebastian." said Camren in worry and Tom and Chloe looked worried as well "To numb all her emotions, run away from the truth and test her breaking point."


	10. Chapter 10

"Hello everyone, we're here with the stars of 'Batgirl: The Court of Avengers', Sashanya Silva and Sebastian Stan!" announced Josh Horowitz enthusiastically beaming and then looked at Sashanya and Sebastian "Hello Sashanya, Sebastian, so lovely to have you here at Comic - Con with us!"

"It's nice to be here." said Sebastian with his trademark charming smile. 

"Always a pleasure talking to you, Josh Horowitz." said Sashanya with a genuinely friendly smile and she meant those words. Josh Horowitz was one of the best interviewers she knew, and she liked talking to him because he was a big geek just like her and he was a genuinely decent and kind human being.

"Awww! The pleasure's all mine!" said Josh making Sashanya and Sebastian laugh "So guys! Are you excited? I mean, the new Batgirl movie .... how awesome is that?"

"It's super cool!" gushed Sashanya enthusiastically "I mean, it's all so mind-blowing! I can't believe it's happening!"

"I know! Talk to me about the movie ... can you tell me what it is about?" asked Josh excitedly and then added "Without trying your best to spoil it."

Sashanya and Sebastian laughed and Sashanya looked at Sebastian who took the question "Um, this movie is about the Avengers meeting Batgirl and their journey together to prevent a greater evil that is unveiling in Gotham."

Sashanya looked at Sebastian in admiration and surprise "That was very good!"

"Thank you!" said Sebastian with a pleased smile "Always the tone of surprise."

Sashanya giggled and Josh smiled as he asked "So how did you prepare for the role? What went into bringing your roles into life?"

Sashanya remarked with a grin "A lot of moisturizer and prayer."

Sebastian roared in laughter along with Sashanya and he shook her head at him "I mean - I had to train really hard for this role. The diet and working out is very strict and rigorous. And the Winter Soldier is really about a struggle with identity. I don't want to get too down here but my stepdad was dealing with Alzheimer’s. And so it was interesting because while that sort of process was very painful as an observer, that was one of the things I found to be very helpful for me to observe and I translated that onto the screen."

Sashanya listened to him feeling stunned and then finally spoke up "Wow."

Sebastian and Josh started laughing and Sashanya smiled "I mean - c'mon isn't Sebastian amazing? What a legend!"

"Stop it!" said Sebastian shaking his head in embarrassment as he smiled shyly 

"I mean - I stan Sebastian Stan." said Sashanya looking at Sebastian with pure admiration and adoration.

Josh started laughing at the two of them "You used that term correctly."

"I know, I'm a creature of the internet." said Sashanya with a witty smile, making everyone laugh. 

"But, Sashanya did a fantastic job!" praised Sebastian, wanting Sashanya to be recognized for her hard work "She did her own stunts, she would go through the lines, read comic books, train twice as hard and she really poured her heart and soul into bringing Batgirl into life."

Sashanya smiled as she blushed at Sebastian's praise. It meant a lot to her, because it came from Sebastian and she was happy that he was proud of her. 

"Well, there was a lot of information in the comic books that I followed but there are things like how Batgirl moved and behaved and thought and what motivated her, basically her presence on screen were all the things I had to discover and reinvent once I was in the outfit and when we were shooting the scenes" said Sashanya to Josh and Sebastian who listened to her attentively "And that was more challenging in a good way. It was great because I wasn't just playing Batgirl, I was also playing Barbara who are so different while at the same time, the same person ... so to find and portray that balance was pretty challenging."

"Well, I saw the trailer that was released yesterday and I have to say you have done a spectacular job!" said Josh and Sebastian and Sashanya smiled gratefully and graciously. "And I have to say the costumes were amazing! Who has the best costume?"

"The costumes are pretty great. Shout out to our awesome costume designers!" said Sashanya with a wink and a wave making Sebastian and Josh laugh "Who has the best costume?"

"I would say Captain America." said Sebastian with a grin.

"It's definitely ..... Batgirl." said Sashanya with a smirk making Sebastian and Josh laugh.

"Wow!" exclaimed Sebastian with a smile "And here, I thought you liked my costume!"

"I do! I do!" said Sashanya quickly, laughing as she touched Sebastian's hand and she did not notice how Sebastian froze "I think your costume makes you look very hot!"

Everyone laughed and Sebastian looked at Sashanya breathlessly as he chuckled "Love the metal arm, eh?"

"What can I say? I'm sucker for a dude with a metal arm and long, greasy hair." said Sashanya jokingly making everyone laugh. "But Josh, do you know, the boys made such a fuss while getting into their costumes!"

"Really?" asked Josh in curiosity as he laughed at Sebastian who looked offended and Sashanya who was laughing.

"We did not!" said Sebastian pretending to be outraged and offended as he huffed and folded his arms. "That's an outrageous lie!"

"No, you did, you're just embarrassed to admit it." said Sashanya with a mischievous laugh "Scarlett, Camren, Chloe and I, we were pretty cool with our costumes, we aren't drama queens. But I could literally hear Anthony crying and you screaming in pain when you were fitting into your metal arm."

"Don't believe her!" said Sebastian shaking his head and waving his arms around "Edit this out!"

Josh, Sebastian and Sashanya laughed and Josh said to them "So, this movie has so many incredible characters. Who do you think is most like their character in the movie?"

"Maybe RDJ." answered Sebastian with a grin and Sashanya nodded in agreement "He's very charismatic like Tony." 

"Yeah. And I have to say maybe Tom and Noah." said Sashanya thoughtfully with a smile "Noah because he is very charming, kind, empathetic. He's a great team player and he gives good advice. He's a really fun and good guy like his character Nightwing." 

"I never thought of it like that." said Josh, looking impressed. 

"And why is Tom like Spiderman?" asked Sebastian half amused and half impressed at how Sashanya observed and read people. 

"Tom because he is kind and dorky and he doesn't take himself seriously. He has a sense of humor." said Sashanya with a grin "And from personal experience of being one of his closest friends, I can say that Tom is just such a good person. He's the kind of guy who is like 'What can I do to help?' and then helps you even if you are too proud to ask for it. So I think that kind of makes him similar to Spiderman and that's why I think he is perfect for the role of Spiderman as well."

"Wow. Your character analysis are on point." said Josh taken aback and impressed, and Sebastian and Sashanya burst into laughter.

"What can I say, it's one of my hidden talents!" said Sashanya laughing as she did a hair flip. 

"So, I thought that I will ask you some random questions that I picked from Tumblr." said Josh to Sashanya who started laughing knowingly and Sebastian looked confused.

"What's a Tumblr?" asked Sebastian puzzled. 

"It's like a place where all the wise and intellectual and frustrated and talented people go to express their creativity in different forms." said Sashanya with a knowing grin "It's also a safe haven for all weirdos, geeks, nerds and fans." 

"That's true." said Josh with a grin "I hear you have Tumblr."

"I do have Tumblr, and I have seen things and read things that you wouldn't believe." said Sashanya in a dark voice which made everyone laugh "No, no, Tumblr is my favorite social media. It's just such a safe and happy place for everyone where no one judges you and everyone is just so funny and nice that you begin to think that everyone in the world is a good person."

"What's your username?" asked Josh with a grin and Sashanya laughed. 

"Oh no. My username is not my name is all I can say." said Sashanya with a giggle "I can already feel the fans going crazy and breaking Tumblr."

"You can bet on it." said Josh laughing "Sebastian do you have Tumblr?"

"No. Dude, I don't even know what it is." said Sebastian shrugging making Sashanya laugh and then Sebastian looked at Sashanya fondly "She's the cool one. She knows what's happening and hip and I'm like the old granddad who doesn't understand anything."

Josh laughed and smiled at them "So are we ready for these questions 

Sashanya grinned and Sebastian clapped his hands together in anticipation "Bring it on!"

"Okay, the first question is ... what makes you feel old?" asked Josh with a grin.

"OOOF, really bringing the deep question out first." said Sebastian with a laugh. 

Sashanya giggled and said "What makes me feel old is when I look at my sister. I mean, it was like yesterday for me when she was this sweet and precious tiny child and now she's all grown up into this smart and strong woman who kicks ass! So yeah, I mean, I'm incredibly proud of my sister but I don't like the fact that she's growing up so fast!"

"Awww!" said Sebastian cooing as he looked at Sashanya with adoration "That is so sweet!"

"You're sister is very lucky to have you." said Josh with a smile. 

"I know. I tell her all the time." said Sashanya with a wide grin making Josh and Sebastian laugh. 

"What is the best thing about winter?" asked Josh with a grin. 

"Oh, I'm going to leave this to you, Seb." said Sashanya with a teasing grin "Since you're the Winter Soldier."

"Well, it's really cold, there's a very christmassy feeling, snowball fights and snow angels and hot chocolate by the fireplace while cuddling with someone." said Sebastian with a smile as he put his arm around Sashanya who froze momentarily at his unexpected but warm touch, but then melted into it. 

"That just made winter sound more appealing than it is." said Josh with a laugh "The next question ... what is your paradise?"

"This is a really good question. I've never been asked this." said Sashanya with a grin "My idea of paradise is lying on the beach soaking in that tropical sun, and going for a swim in the blue, blue ocean and then eating all the unhealthy, delicious food and then reading and then going to sleep and waking up late. And repeat the process every day of my life."

"That sounds amazing." said Sebastian amused as he stifled chuckles. 

"What was the last time you cried?" asked Josh with a laugh.

"Like today morning." said Sashanya sarcastically with an adorable smile making Josh laugh and Sebastian chuckle but he looked at her in worry. "What about you, Seb?"

"I don't remember. Probably when watching a movie." said Sebastian running his hand through his hair, his arm still around Sashanya. 

"What are the three things you look for in a relationship?" asked Josh and smiled mischievously at the two of them "The fans would love to know this!"

Sashanya chuckled "I don't know ... same thing everyone looks for in a relationship I guess. Loyalty, love and respect."

"That was really deep." said Sebastian jokingly and Sashanya rolled her eyes at him.

"Answer the question, Stan."

"I think I would just - someone who understands me and loves me for me." said Sebastian quietly and looked at Sashanya who smiled at him understandingly. 

"That's true." said Josh with a smile "That's what all of us want."

"Exactly!" said Sebastian and Sashanya together. 

"So this interview is almost over but Sashanya I have to ask you something important." said Josh looking serious. 

Sashanya looked nervous, rubbing her hands together "Alright, fire away."

"Is Ezra Miller coming to Comic Con?" asked Josh with a grin.

Sashanya burst into laughter "Oh no. Oh, wow. Um - Ezra won't be coming to this one but I reckon he'll be there at the San Diego Comic Con. I mean Ezra and I are planning on going to SDCC together."

"Oh that sounds great." said Josh and Sashanya smirked.

"Maybe we can meet there. I know you fancy Ezra!" 

"I do not!" spluttered Josh but he was blushing as Sashanya and Sebastian laughed. 

"But, I know what you mean. It's really not Comic - Con without Ezra." said Sashanya with a fond smile "Ezra and I, we are huge geeks. We love Harry Potter and comics, so basically that's like the foundation of our friendship. I mean, my friendship with Ezra Miller began as many great love stories do" Sashanya paused and grinned mischievously "At a Harry Potter Convention!"

"You're not serious!" said Sebastian Stan laughing at Sashanya's ridiculousness. 

"I am! We started talking and I found this extraordinary person who had the same undying love for Harry Potter that I did." said Sashanya with a smile "It was a match made in heaven!"

"And now you're Batgirl and he is Flash!" said Josh excitedly. 

"I know! When I got the role, he was the very first person I told!" said Sashanya in excitement "We were freaking out because you know - Flash and Batgirl!"

"You two sound like such nerds!" snickered Sebastian rolling his eyes fondly at Sashanya. 

"Yes we are." said Sashanya casually, not disturbed by it "I think that's a great thing to be a nerd. To be intelligent rather than stupid, to be thoughtful and caring rather than be superficial, and to believe that there are so many more important things that matter than the latest feud between the Kadarshians. I think that's great .... being a nerd is wonderful. That's why I love Comic - Con because it's a gathering of thoughtful, creative, enthusiastic and smart people who are so full of life and energy that society labels as 'nerds', 'geeks', or 'weirdos'."

Josh started clapping loudly "YASSS QUEEN!"

Sashanya laughed lightly and Sebastian smiled at her stunned and impressed. Josh looked at Sashanya and showed her a picture of a tall, blonde man with tattoos inked all over his body "So, I have to tell you before you go, I interviewed your friend, Machine Gun Kelly recently and he told me something interesting about you."

"Oh did you? Kells is on tour right now, though." said Sashanya with a smile "What did he say?"

"He told me that you were the only woman he feared." said Josh and Sashanya burst into laughter and Sebastian chuckled. 

"I'm not sure - wow, Kells, thank you!" said Sashanya, shrugging and grinning at the thought of her close friend saying that. 

"He meant that as a compliment." said Josh giggling "That you were badass and strong woman."

"Aww, Kells." said Sashanya with a smile "Oh, he's a very lovely person, isn't he? He's such a great person."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but it's kind of hard -" began Sebastian looking at the picture and then Sashanya

"Hard to picture us as friends?" asked Sashanya with a grin "Don't worry we get that a lot. I mean - people are like 'are you really friends with Machine Gun Kelly? He seems really terrifying and you are so sweet'. And I'm just like - that's kind of judgmental. I mean - just because he looks a little bit intimidating, it doesn't mean he's a bad person. He's a genuinely good person and he's one of my closest friends."

"Do you still keep in touch after the movie you did together?" asked Josh.

"Oh yeah. We're still very good friends." said Sashanya enthusiastically "We actually talked this week, and he - as you know is currently touring and doing an amazing job. I'm going to see him at one of his shows before his tour ends."

"That's lovely of you." said Josh warmly "And I hear you get along well with his daughter?"

"Oh yes." said Sashanya with a bright smile and Sebastian looked a little surprised at the mention of the daughter "I mean, Casie is so adorable. She is such an angel."

"He told me that you watch Disney movies with her and help her out with her homework whenever you visit them." said Josh and Sebastian looked at Sashanya in surprise, feeling a some jealousy stir at the fact that Sashanya spoke so warmly of this tattooed rapper and mothered his daughter. 

"Oh yeah, absolutely." said Sashanya nodding her head "I mean, I spend time with the both of them when I visit them, they're both so lovely. She's such a sharp and strong little girl, she's growing up so fast though. And Kells, I really like that he doesn't care about what other people think of him. I mean - he's unapologetically himself. I wish I could be more like that."

Sebastian smiled at Sashanya "You're perfect the way you are."

Sashanya blushed and Josh swooned "Awww, isn't that the truth!" 

Sashanya and Sebastian laughed together and Josh said with a little sigh "Well, I can't believe this but our time together has come to an end."

"Oh no!" said Sashanya pouting adorably "It was so fun talking with you!"

"Well, it's always good to talk to you. Thank you for coming for this interview." 

"Thank you for having us!" said Sebastian and Sashanya together. 

"My pleasure. Good luck with the movie, it's going to be awesome! I can't wait to see it!" said Josh as he shook their hands.

"Thank you, Josh." said Sashanya and Sebastian warmly as they shook his hand and the interview was over.


	11. Chapter 11

Sashanya groaned as she got up with great difficulty from the sofa and made her way lazily towards the door to answer the ringing doorbell.

"Keep your pants on, I'm coming." muttered Sashanya annoyed and opened the door to see a familiar face standing in front of her with a bouquet of flowers, a box and cup of hot chocolate "Sebastian?"

"Hi." said Sebastian, a little breathlessly as he took in Sashanya's make up free face, her worn out blue hoodie and grey sweatpants and bare feet and loose, messy hair.

"What are you doing here?" asked Sashanya as she took the bouquet of flowers and the hot chocolate from Sebastian in surprise

"I came to see you." said Sebastian with a small, hopeful smile "You weren't answering your texts or your calls and you didn't come into work today so I wanted to see whether you were alright."

"I'm fine." said Sashanya feeling irritated "Thanks for checking up on me. You should go now."

Sebastian entered her penthouse and followed Sashanya into her living room "I don't have anything else to do. And besides I bought you your favorite donuts!"

"Look, Sebastian, I'm not stupid, okay?" snapped Sashanya feeling annoyed "You obviously have work and you're skipping it to - what? Hang out with me?"

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Sebastian in concern, taken aback at the sharp tone of Sashanya's voice.

"Nothing." said Sashanya forcefully, feeling guilty about snapping at Sebastian and feeling incredibly tired "Didn't anyone get the memo that I wanted to be alone today?"

"I was just worried about you." said Sebastian softly as he put down the box of donuts on the coffee table.

"Well, then, stop worrying!" snapped Sashanya in irritation "I'm not a child!"

There was silence, an uncomfortable and tense silence that seemed to stretch on forever and Sashanya mentally berated herself for speaking to Sebastian in such a cruel and horrible manner. She didn't want to speak to him in such a way but she couldn't help it. She couldn't control her words, the words had flown out of her mouth even before she had given any real thought to it.

"Sebastian." began Sashanya hoarsely, feeling her voice stuck in her throat "Sorry about that. Now's really not a good time."

"Clearly." said Sebastian in a cold voice, Sashanya had never heard him use with her before "I'll leave you alone, then."

"Wait!" the words flew out of Sashanya's mouth before she could think over it "Stay here with me."

"Don't you want to be alone?" asked Sebastian coldly but his voice had softened.

"I rather be alone with you than be by myself." answered Sashanya and to her, that was the first honest thing she had said all day.

Sebastian was silent for a few moments and then he sighed "Alright."

Sashanya smiled and sat down, sprawling on the sofa while Sebastian took a seat in the armchair. They stayed quietly for a few moments and Sashanya closed her eyes enjoying the quietness, listening to her thoughts swirling across her mind. They quietly stayed in each other's company for a while, and they listened to the music as the crooning voice of a singer singing softly filled the quiet and empty air.

**_Cold bones, yeah that's my love._ **   
**_She hides away, like a ghost._ **

**_Ooh, does she know that we bleed the same?_ **   
**_Ooh, don't want to cry but I break that way._ **

"Is there something upsetting you?" asked Sebastian's soft voice and Sashanya opened her eyes.

"I don't know." answered Sashanya quietly "Everything is bothering me today. I feel like I'm stuck and everyone else is moving ahead of me."

Sebastian was quiet and Sashanya pondered "Thoughts. Such funny creatures. In the end, all that remains is just you and your thoughts all alone. The only way to escape it is to die."

Sebastian sucked in a breath as he whispered terrified "Don't say things like that?"

"I'm sorry." said Sashanya with a melancholy smile "I'm not very good company today. I'm just feeling tired and low."

"What can I do to help?" asked Sebastian softly and tenderly.

"Just be here with me." said Sashanya with a smile. "Don't try to fix me."

Sebastian looked at the tired and worn out girl and he searched for a way to cheer her up "Tom is going to be doing half of his interviews alone without you."

Sashanya's lips twitched into a smile "Ah, he'll survive. He's a strong one, Tom."

"You two seem to be pretty good friends." said Sebastian feeling glad that Sashanya was smiling a little bit "How did you meet him?"

"Ah, now that's a story you don't want to hear." said Sashanya thoughtfully with a smirk.

"No, I think I really do." said Sebastian persistently, feeling curious.

"Well, by the end of this story, I hope you don't think differently of me." said Sashanya with a sigh and began "Here's the story of how I met Tom Holland ....."

**Flashback - Two Years Back**

_An empty glass of whisky and a an almost empty bottle of whiskey lay on the table along with her phone which was filling up with urgent and incessant messages of concern from her family, relatives, friends, management and people she didn't even know. She had more than hundred missed calls, all of them which she didn't have the intention of ever answering and right now her manager Mandy was calling her. She ignored her and sent her to voicemail. She could deal with Mandy and her strategies later. She didn't give a fuck about anyone or anything right now. She couldn't think properly, all her thoughts were rushing, swirling and running wild in a drunken haze. All she could focus on was the blaring TV in the empty bar which was forecasting the breaking news that had been replaying for the past three hours straight on every single national and international channel._

_"Breaking News." said the blonde haired reporter in a stony voice that had a hint of wild excitement in it "Sashanya Silva, legendary actress and budding singer and songwriter was taken to hospital last December after an apparent suicide attempt. Sashanya Silva was admitted to the emergency room at 12.30 a.m on the 24th of December under the pseudonym of Lily Grace Reynolds and treated immediately for high levels of poisoning. The report is the latest event in the high profile life of the Hollywood's Darling."_

_She tried her best to stay calm but it was impossible. Tears sprang into her eyes as she watched her image being broadcasted on national TV along with her silent and private struggles. Everything she had struggled to keep quiet and private was now out there in the open and she couldn't - she was ashamed. She couldn't leave this bar and face the world with her head up high knowing that people knew about how she had taken the coward's way out. This was not good for her. It was over for her. Her career would be nothing but a sham. Who would want to hire a depressed freak who couldn't even get her own suicide attempt right?_

_Her breathing grew erratic in panic and she breathed in and out, in and out over and over again. She tried to keep calm and focus and practice the breathing exercises her therapist had shown her but it wasn't working out that great._

_A voice pulled her out of drowning in her thunderous thoughts "Hey, are you okay?"_

_Sashanya looked to see a boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes looking at her in genuine concern. Sashanya's first thought was that she had seen him somewhere but she had no idea why he looked so familiar to her or where she had seen him before._

_"Oh yeah." replied Sashanya sarcastically, in a hoarse voice "I'm great. I'm feeling amazing."_

_"I think you're being sarcastic." said the boy as he eyed her._

_"Oh yeah? What gave it away?" asked Sashanya as she rolled her eyes at him._

_"The tone of your voice. And your face .... you don't look too good." said the boy gently, trying to tread lightly._

_"Gee, thanks. You really are a charmer." said Sashanya with a snort._

_"Sorry." said the boy apologetically "Seriously are you okay? Do you want me to call someone -"_

_"No." snapped Sashanya quickly "There's no need. No one's worried about me."_

_At that very moment, Sashanya's phone lit up with an incoming call from Natalie and the boy raised his eyebrows "I think you might be wrong."_

_"Do you ever shut up?" asked Sashanya feeling irritated with this boy._

_"No. That's one of my biggest flaws, I'm told." said the boy with a grin._

_Sashanya involuntarily smiled and then her smile disappeared "I don't want to go home. In fact, I don't want to leave this bar ever."_

_"Oh." said the boy taking a seat beside her. Sashanya knew that he knew what she was talking about because he had also seen the breaking news on the television "But you have a family waiting for you right? They must be very worried about you."_

_"Yeah." sighed Sashanya as she looked at the millions of messages she had received from her father, mother, sister, Chloe, Camren and few other close friends "But I don't think that things will ever be the same again."_

_The boy stayed silent and Sashanya explained to him "People will treat me differently now. Like I'm the broken doll that needs to be fixed. Like I'm some pathetic waste of space. And - I don't want to go through that."_

_"There will always be people who will judge you." said the boy slowly after a moment's pause "But there will also always be people who will understand you. Who care about you. People who want you to be safe and sound. And yes, you won't be looked at the same any more but - but you've got to keep marching on like a soldier. You've got to show them that you aren't giving up that easily."_

_"I don't know if I can." said Sashanya softly._

_"You're stronger than you know." said the boy with a gentle smile "And you know, you aren't alone."_

_Sashanya cracked a small and sad smile at the boy "Sometimes it feels as though I am."_

_"Well, you aren't. Not anymore." said the boy solemnly "I'm going to be by your side. I promise."_

_The boy stood up and offered his hand to Sashanya "Let's get you home safely, eh?"_

_Sashanya took his hand and stood up and smiled curiously and gratefully at the boy with dark brown hair "You seem familiar, have we met before?"_

_"No, no." said the boy with a twinkle in his eyes._

_"Then, are you going to tell me the name of the gallant hero who rescued me in my time of need?" asked Sashanya jokingly as she looked at the boy curiously._

_The boy smiled at Sashanya "I'm Tom. Tom Holland."_

_Sashanya nodded at Tom with a genuine smile "Sashanya. Sashanya Silva."_

**Flashback over.**

Sebastian was stunned as he stayed quiet for a few moments and Sashanya smiled "That's how we met. And we became good friends. He saw the ugly part of me and didn't run away."

Sebastian looked at Sashanya thoughtfully "Why didn't you tell me?"

"About what? About how I met Tom or about how I tried to kill myself?" asked Sashanya with a sardonic smile.

Sebastian looked at her silently and Sashanya shrugged "It's not something I'm proud of. Almost killing myself. It's just -"

Her voice cracked and Sebastian's heart broke for the hurt and depressed girl sitting in front of him and he stood up and walked towards her and sat beside her.

"Hey." he said soothingly as he put his arm around her "It's okay."

"No, it's not." said Sashanya with tears streaming down her face "I never wanted you to see this terrible and ugly part of me, Sebastian. I'm so fucked up -"

"Hey, hey, hey." said Sebastian as he wiped Sashanya's tears away gently and looked into her dark tear-filled eyes as he said in a serious and affectionate manner "There's nothing ugly about you. You're beautiful."

Sashanya lips twitched into a small watery smile and Sebastian pulled Sashanya close to him and hugged her tightly as he buried his face into her hair and murmured "I'm glad you told me. I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying right here."

And as they stayed together in that warm and comforting embrace, that moment was infinite to both of them.


	12. Chapter 12

Sebastian was generally a patient, kind and calm man who loved children. 

But right now, his patience was reaching his limits, his kindness was fading away, his calmness was quickly on the verge of being replaced by anger and he really had a strong urge to throttle the small child in his living room. 

Because this child was no ordinary child. Oh no, he was a monster! 

Sebastian had taken the responsibility of babysitting this little boy who happened to be his newly moved in neighbor's son. Karen, his new neighbor, had just divorced and was a single mum with the custody of a ten year old boy struggling to make ends meet. So when Karen had asked Sebastian whether he could babysit her little boy George while she went for job interviews which would take all day, Sebastian had been kind enough to try and make that woman's life easier by accepting the responsibility of babysitting her kid. What he did not expect was for the kid to start behaving outrageously and out of control. As soon as the mother was out of the building, the kid had started to make things difficult for Sebastian by making fun of Sebastian in a disrespectful manner, jumping up and down Sebastian's sofa, tearing down Sebastian's curtains and bringing down chaos. 

But Sebastian's compassion and patience wasn't boundless and George was firm on destroying every bit of patience that Sebastian had. The living room was devastated, the kitchen was destroyed, the bathrooms and bedrooms were in a state of disaster and Sebastian couldn't even fathom how all of that happened and how a ten year old did all of that under his watchful eye. Sebastian who was frustrated and annoyed with the misbehaving child, called in help in the form of Anthony Mackie. Anthony doesn't mind confronting the kid head along unlike Sebastian who was patient and gentle with the brat. Sebastian knew that Anthony didn't take shit from anyone so he thought that Anthony could best deal with this child. But what he didn't expect was for Anthony to saunter in and start yelling at young George for the mess he made of Sebastian's apartment. It's a little cruel but Sebastian doesn't mind. He feels that George deserves this a little bit for trashing his beautiful apartment. 

As the yelling match continued on between Anthony and George, Sebastian sighed and knew he couldn't let it go on for much longer. So he called in someone else, who could perhaps relate to the brat and make him behave ... Tom Holland. But even Tom's kind, relaxed and coaxing way with George did not work and it ended up with Tom cursing at George with very colorful language supported by Anthony and eventually Tom and Anthony march out of the kitchen in a fit of anger and frustration leaving the kid alone in the kitchen. 

Sebastian was spraying the fire extinguisher to his burning record collection that George had set on fire when Anthony began to rant "I hate that demon brat."

"Yeah, he has that effect on people." said Sebastian as the fire died out and he looked mournfully at his burned and charred record collection. 

"That kid is a menace!" growled Anthony in frustration "He's worse than you Tom, and that's saying something!"

"Hey!" protested Tom but he too agreed with Anthony. That kid was a nightmare. "We're going to need backup. We need to call the big guns. The cavalry."

"Who are we possibly going to call?" asked Sebastian groaning as he sank into his couch in exhaustion "There is no one who can help us right now."

"And who could possibly deal with this monster?" asked Anthony rolling his eyebrows as he folded his arms.

"Trust me, I know just the person." said Tom with a knowing grin as he tapped and texted on his phone furiously to someone and then looked at Sebastian and Anthony "Fifteen minutes and we'll be saved."

Sebastian and Anthony started interrogating Tom asking who this mystery person was but in exactly fifteen minutes, there was two curt and precise knocks on the door and Tom rushed to the door to open it. 

The door opened in and in came a familiar goddess with her dark hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing a dark black leather jacket as she surveyed the torn curtains, the stains on the carpet, the burnt record collection and remarked "What on earth? It's like IKEA had a wild house party in here."

Tom snorted in laughter and grinned at Sashanya as he hugged her "Thanks for coming Sashanya. We didn't know who else to call."

"No problem, Tom." said Sashanya hugging Tom and taking another look at the mess "The kid did all of this?"

"Yeah, the kid's an absolute fucking nightmare." said Anthony in frustration. 

"She is the cavalry?" asked Sebastian staring at Sashanya in disbelief. 

"Yeah, Sashanya's really good with kids." said Tom with a grin "So, basically there's this really angsty, monstrous ten year old that Sebastian agreed to babysit but this kid tore his apartment apart. So maybe can you please help us out with this child?"

"Sure." said Sashanya with a casual shrug "Where is he now?"

"In the kitchen. Probably destroying more stuff." said Sebastian huffing in annoyance

"Okay cool." said Sashanya grinning in amusement and then squared her shoulders as she looked at the three boys "Okay, so how about you guys go out and grab something to eat? I'll take care of this."

"And leave you here?" asked Sebastian as he looked at the kitchen and then her. 

"Trust me, I'll be fine." said Sashanya with a smile 

"Works for me." said Tom cheerfully "Come on, leave Sashanya to do her kid whispering magic and let's go get some pizza!"

Anthony followed Tom out of the door and Sebastian looked at Sashanya one last time before he left "Call me if you need anything."

"Don't worry about me, go have fun." said Sashanya with a wink and thumbs up and Sebastian smiled at her and left. 

Sebastian, Anthony and Tom have lunch at a small but amazing Italian place, During lunch, Anthony rants about George, Sebastian worries about Sashanya and Tom assures them that Sashanya's got everything under control. They return over an hour later to find Sebastian's apartment still standing, all in one piece and nothing seems to be on fire. As they enter the apartment, their jaws drop in shock and surprise as they stare at the clean and apartment, and is shocked to see everything back in order. Everything is pristine and immaculate as if it had never been chaos and mess there in the first place. The stains on the carpet have vanished, the destroyed pieces of the vases are nowhere to be seen, new curtains are hung up and there was no suspicious smells of burning, instead a nice fragrance of rose and jasmine wafts in.

And in the middle of it all, is a heartwarming sight. In the middle of it all, sitting cross - legged on the floor on fluffy blankets surrounded by boxes of pizza and brownies is George and Sashanya as they chuckle while playing a video game. It's Super Mario and judging by the groaning and complaining of Sashanya and the smug smile on George's face, George was winning. Sashanya was muttering something about rotten luck while the kid continued to laugh and beat her in the game. Sebastian thinks that he has never seen anything quite this beautiful in his life and he is absolutely speechless. 

Anthony was the first to recover from his speechlessness "How did you - what is happening?"

"I beating Sashanya's arse at Mario Kart!" said George who was focused on the TV screen, super invested in destroying Sashanya's character. 

"Language!" admonished Sashanya in a motherly tone as she gently smacked the kid's head making him giggle and looked at the three men "How was lunch?"

"It was great -" began Sebastian but at that very moment George whooped in joy and jumped up and down in happiness. 

"I WON!!!" 

Sashanya crossed her arms and glared at the TV as if it was the TV's fault that she lost as George dances around in victory. But then Sebastian sees an easy grin curl at Sashanya's lips, soft and caring and Sebastian thinks that he might be falling in love with her. 

"Alright, kiddo." said Sashanya as she ruffled George's hair "You know what you have to do."

George's smile vanishes and he starts scowling. But Sashanya gives him an exasperated look, a look that is withering and scary. A look that was perfected with an eyebrow raise which screamed the message 'you can do better than this'. A look that made Sebastian feel small and insignificant as if his third grade teacher was looking down upon him and criticizing him for being a dumb kid. But this exasperated look is complemented with a certain soft tenderness and genuine warmth. Sebastian recognizes this look as the look that Sashanya gives Chloe when she has had too much to drink, Camren when she says something inappropriate and Natalie when she does something out of line. 

George huffs in annoyance and reluctantly sighs as he obediently drags himself towards Sebastian and looks at him in an apologetic manner. 

"I'm sorry for being rude and making a mess." began George hesitantly and turned back to see Sashanya looking at him and giving him an encouraging nod and then George continued "I'm sorry and I promise it will never happen again and I'll behave much better from now on."

Sebastian, Anthony and Tom were gobsmacked at George's confession and Sebastian said, stuttering, not knowing what to say "Well - um - thank you, George. Apology accepted."

Sashanya rolls her eyes at Sebastian and George turns back to look at Sashanya for some sort of reassurance and Sashanya gives him a thumbs up and a huge smile and ruffles his hair.

"Well, kid, you ain't that bad, I guess." said Anthony still eyeing the kid warily and Sashanya glared at Anthony while shaking her head at him. 

Before George could say anything, Sashanya interrupted as she smiled at George "Well, George. It was a pleasure to meet you. Do try and remember what we talked about. You're a wonderful kid and don't let the world get you down, eh?"

"You're leaving?" asked George, looking crestfallen and disappointed and Sebastian felt a little heartbroken for the kid. 

"Hey, chin up, little man." said Sashanya gently as she ruffled George's hair. The action strikes Sebastian as warm and familiar, it was something Sashanya would do with Natalie whenever they joked around. It was something that Sashanya did with family, and it strikes Sebastian that George is now part of her family. "You have my number. If those mean kids, give you any trouble call me. And if you need anything, if you want to talk or hang out, call me, okay? I'll be there for you."

George nods his head eagerly and there are tears shining in his eyes. Suddenly he bursts into tears and launches himself forward and throws his arms around Sashanya's waist, holding onto her for dear life. Sashanya catches the little boy with the ease of a big sister and hugs him back comfortingly and soothingly. Sashanya murmurs gentle, reassuring words to George as she runs her hand soothingly and gently up and down George's back. Sebastian, Anthony and Tom avert their eyes, it feels as if they are trespassing on a private and tender moment and they try their best to ignore George's muffled sobs and Sashanya's soft murmurs. 

When they look back up, Sashanya has crouched down below towards the height of George and is whispering something to him as she pats his shoulder. 

"Hey, George." said Sashanya quietly and gently, in a sisterly manner "You're not alone, buddy. You're strong and you're brave and you can get through anything. Sometimes, you won't believe that but it's true. You keep your chin up, keep marching on and don't ever lose hope."

George nods silently and throws his arms around Sashanya hugging her gratefully and Sashanya hugs him back with the ease and comfort of a big sister who has done this millions of times. Sebastian watches as George unwraps his arms from Sashanya and stands up straight with resolve and determination to get through the world with bravery and strength and he finds it sad that a ten year old would need such thing. But George needed it and Sashanya was there to give it to him. Sashanya was there to understand him and guide him. Sashanya was there for George and in the end of the day that was all that mattered. 

Sashanya pulls George into a final hug and reluctantly says her farewell to the little boy whilst ruffling his hair affectionately. Sebastian leads Sashanya out and she is followed by Anthony and Tom. 

Once the door is safely shut, Anthony takes one look at Sashanya and demanded in amazement "How the hell did you manage to do that?"

Sashanya smirked at Anthony "If you think George was bad, then you should have met angsty, ten year old Natalie."

Tom started laughing "Was she that bad?"

"She tattled on me to my parents, she pulled my hair, she kicked me in my shins, she set my bed on fire, she tore all of my favorite books up .... " said Sashanya casually as if this was normal for her standard of child rearing "She was my worst nightmare."

"Well, Natalie's definitely better now." said Sebastian with a grin. 

"Yeah, all part of me being a wonderful sister to her." said Sashanya with a grin. 

"You're really good with kids." said Sebastian genuinely "George really loves you."

"I just think - there are no demon brats." said Sashanya with a shrug and a pleasant smile "Only misunderstood and lonely children who just need someone to pay attention to them."

"Wow." said Anthony with a smile "You're really something."

Sashanya laughed and then looked at the three of them "Well, I expect payment in full."

"What?" asked Sebastian, Anthony and Tom in surprise. 

"Do you think my babysitting services are for free?" asked Sashanya with a mischievous grin "I want Anthony to get me donuts, Sebastian to get me brownies and Tom, you can get me waffles."

"Are you serious?" asked Sebastian but his lips were twitching. 

"Yes. I expect payment in full within this week or I will be charging interest." said Sashanya with a grin and then waved at them as she sashayed away "Adios, bitches!"


	13. Chapter 13

Sashanya was appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live along with her cast mates Camren, Chloe, Tom, Robert, Sebastian, Anthony and Scarlet. They were promoting and talking about their new movie to Jimmy who was asking questions that they had been asked countless times before. Jimmy had first paid a particular great deal of attention to Robert, Sebastian, Anthony, Scarlet and Tom asking them good questions in enthusiasm while asking Chloe, Camren and Sashanya a few questions here and there. Sashanya, Chloe and Camren didn't mind that. They knew that Jimmy Kimmel wasn't a huge fan of them and personally they weren't a huge fan of him but did their best to be nice and polite to him. 

Though Sashanya, Camren and Chloe didn't like Jimmy Kimmel, they loved being back in L.A. Some of their best memories were made in L.A and they loved the vibrant and colorful city which was full of life. Although Camren and Chloe both had homes in L.A. they all were currently staying at the luxurious Beverley Hills Hotel along with their cast members, as they were promoting their movie all around Los Angeles. It was absolutely fun and fabulous time for the three best friends who spent every moment together, shopping, partying, swimming, eating, hiking and doing many other things. Camren, Chloe and Sashanya were often busy with their schedules so to get to spend time together was a blessing to them and they took advantage of every moment. 

Jimmy Kimmel who had been fawning over the Avengers now turned to Sashanya, Chloe and Camren "So ladies, do you have a favorite Avenger? Someone you look up to?"

"Natasha Romanoff." said Camren making Scarlett grin and high five her "I mean, that woman is a goddess. She is the greatest Avenger!"

"Yeah, I mean, she literally screams big dick energy!" said Chloe and the girls hummed in agreement 

"Hey, hey! No cursing!" said Jimmy Kimmel in a reprimanding tone while laughing with everyone else. 

"I love Black Widow, she's awesome." said Sashanya as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear "But, for me, - she's not an Avenger - but I really love Agent Peggy Carter!"

The audience began to scream in agreement and clap in enthusiasm and Jimmy Kimmel looked confused "Who is that?"

"Oh my god, you don't know who Peggy Carter is?" scoffed Sashanya looking shocked "She's hell in high heels, son."

"I haven't watched her stuff either." said Tom shaking his head. 

"You're missing out. She is - like if God was a woman, it would be Agent Peggy Carter!" said Camren in awe and everyone in the audience clapped in agreement.

"Definitely. She is one of my role models. She is such an inspiration." said Sashanya with a nod of agreement. 

"She kicks ass looking effortless in red lipstick and high heels. I mean - what more could - like girl wow!" said Chloe in admiration. 

Everyone laughed at her remark and Jimmy Kimmel asked the three girls "So you three girls are back in L.A - how does it feel to be back in L.A? Sashanya you lived here for a while, didn't you?"

Robert, Sebastian, Anthony and Scarlett looked at her and Sashanya answered with a lovely smile "Yes, I did live in L.A. for a while and then I decided to move to New York."

Only Sashanya and those closest to her knew why she decided to move to New York. After her break up with Jamie, everything went downhill for Sashanya. She couldn't eat, sleep or breathe in the town that was filled with memories of the person she had loved and loved and lost. And after the news of her suicide attempt broke out, Sashanya couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't live in L.A. anymore. She wanted to leave L.A. and move somewhere, anywhere that was not haunted by her memories and start out fresh. And so she moved to New York, where she got a chance to restart and get her act together. 

"Do you miss L.A?" asked Jimmy Kimmel pestering her, trying to get something juicy out of her. 

"I miss the beach." joked Sashanya making everyone laugh "No, I don't miss L.A. I love New York and honestly I like where my life is at now."

"YAAAASS!!!" cheered Scarlett as she clapped for Sashanya making Sashanya grin and everyone of the cast members joined in, in cheering for her. 

"But, I hear you're enjoying your time here." said Jimmy with a smile at the three girls "Now, you are Hollywood's squad goals. I want to know what do you do for fun when you hang out?"

"Ooooh, loads of things." said Camren looking at Chloe and Sashanya who grinned "We like stuff that any normal twenty something girls like. Going out for drinks, movies, spa days, shopping, eating and binge watching TV series, slumber parties."

"We actually had a slumber party yesterday." said Chloe with a grin. 

"Did you? Why weren't we invited?" asked Sebastian indignantly but there was a laughing twinkle in his eyes. 

"It was a girls only Slumber party and Scarlett was there as well." said Chloe in reply as she looked behind and grinned at Scarlett. 

"Yes, I was. It was super fun. We ordered so much of junk food and chatted all night long." said Scarlett with a happy smile. 

"Wow. Who's room does the slumber party happen?" asked Anthony in curiosity. 

"Oh, I think it was Chloe's. Mostly, it happens in Chloe's room because she's got like the music, the lights, the movies, the nail polish." replied Scarlett with a smile. 

"So basically we're in Chloe's room gorging ourselves on tacos and ice cream, painting our nails, dancing and singing and just crying over the Notebook." said Sashanya with a grin making everyone laugh.

"That sounds really fun." said Jimmy as he looked at the three girls ready to bring out something that would destroy them "Now, I've heard this rumor that your managers have banned you from drinking because you're not to be trusted with alcohol because of an incident that happened with Leonardo Di Caprio."

Tom, Camren, and Sashanya started laughing while Chloe buried her head in her hands in shame. Robert, Scarlett, Anthony and Sebastian looked at the three girls in confusion, amusement and curiosity. 

"Okay, what does that mean?" asked Anthony Mackie in curiosity, his lips cracking into a grin. 

"Are you three going to tell us what trouble you've gotten yourself into?" asked Robert in a fatherly manner but he was grinning too. 

"That wasn't us. That wasn't us." said Camren shaking her head as she laughed. 

"To be fair, it wasn't our fault." said Sashanya innocently and then looked at Chloe as she and Camren both pointed at Chloe "It was Chloe's fault."

"Oh no." said Jimmy with a grin "Chloe, could you tell the ladies and gentlemen here what happened?"

"Oh, well - oh god I can't!" exclaimed Chloe in embarrassment "You tell it, Sashanya."

"So basically, we were invited to Leonardo's house for a dinner on a Saturday night." began Sashanya with an easygoing smile but Camren interrupted.

"You mean, you were invited but you took us along with you." said Camren with a good natured smile. 

"Yeah, so Leonardo was chill, he was like bring your friends along. And so I told Camren and Chloe to accompany me to this dinner and I told them that we were going to dinner at Leonardo Di Caprio's place, so we had to behave properly ... we couldn't be ourselves." said Sashanya expressively making everyone laugh. "So we got ready and we went there and all of us were really nervous about meeting him because he is a legend, right! But Camren and I, we played it cool, we didn't show how nervous we were. But Chloe ... the problem with her is she can't hide how nervous she is. And she is the biggest Leo fan in the world!"

"Oh no!" groaned Scarlett, knowing where it was going, and giggling. 

"So Leonardo greets us and he is so lovely and kind. And then, I think we were talking and having a few drinks. And Chloe being Chloe ... she had way too many glasses of wine." said Sashanya rolling her eyes and looks pointedly at Chloe who flushes a dark red and everyone laughs "And Chloe, take it away."

"And then, Leonardo asks us if anyone of us has a funny video and we show him one of the skits we do when we're bored. And because I'm drunk I find it absolutely hilarious." said Chloe making everyone laugh "So I'm sitting there with my glass of wine and it got to the funny part and I went like -" Then Chloe imitated herself spraying and spitting out the wine all over and everyone gasped and laughed "Like literally everywhere. On Leonardo, on the sofa -"

"Oh no!" gasped Jimmy his hand over his mouth in amusement. 

"On the white carpet, the curtains, the candles." added Sashanya grinning in amusement. 

"NO!" gasped Anthony while Sebastian, Tom, Robert and Scarlett laughed loudly in amusement. 

"It was so embarrassing." said Chloe shaking her head in embarrassment amidst Sashanya's and Camren's hoots of laughter "It was so embarrassing. I've never been so embarrassed in my life."

Sashanya and Camren were laughing as they hugged each other and Chloe pointed at Sashanya "Sashanya wet herself. She found it so funny!"

"Sashanya!" exclaimed Sebastian in amusement as he laughed. 

"Do you know those times where you find something so funny that you can't stop laughing and you wet yourself?" asked Sashanya trying to defend herself amidst the laughter "It was so funny. And it got to the point where I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud. And Leonardo was so sweet, he carried on like nothing had happened with wine dripping all over his face!"

"Oh no!" said Robert face palming himself while laughing along with the others.

"He's so sweet, he carried on." said Scarlett earnestly while giggling at the three girls.

"We haven't been invited back ever since though." said Camren with a smile and a shrug. 

"Is it any wonder?" asked Jimmy Kimmel with a grin making everyone laugh. 

"But you three are trouble when you have alcohol in your system. Sashanya is usually responsible but Chloe and Camren are trouble." said Tom with a knowing smile. 

"Excuse me?" asked Camren in mock outrage and then smiled in good humor at Tom.

"That reminds me of the time when we three got really drunk and prank called people." said Chloe as she looked at Camren and Sashanya who nodded in agreement. 

"Oh my god, yes. We called people from Sashanya's phone. Like some random people - and then we ordered a cake from some bakery - oh, we called Jimmy Fallon!" said Camren with a grin "Do you remember? He was a bit of a spoilsport though."

"Yeah, we were like doing all these accents and laughing and he threatened to call the police." said Chloe rolling her eyes "I mean - calm down Jimmy! It's just some harmless fun!"

"Really?" asked Jimmy Kimmel, his eyes widened "Who else did you call?"

"Oh, I can't remember." said Camren, wracking her brain hard and then a realization hit her "Ooh, I think we called Kate Middleton, didn't we girls?"

"Oh yes, we called Kate. She was incredibly nice." said Chloe with a grin not realizing the gobsmacked looks on her cast members faces "Unlike Jimmy!"

"You have Kate Middleton's number? The Duchess of Cambridge is in your contacts?" asked Jimmy in shock from Sashanya who looked laid back and calm. 

"Oh yes, we're friends." said Sashanya as if being friends with one of the most high profile and famous royals in the world was normal. 

"Wow!" said Sebastian taken aback. 

Chloe grinned at them "Sashanya knows everyone. I don't know how she does it, she isn't like the biggest social butterfly but she knows everyone and everyone knows her."

"Everybody loves Sashanya." said Camren with a wink "Just mention a name of any celebrity and I bet she knows them."

"Or has their phone number." added Chloe with a grin. 

"Taylor Swift." suggested Jimmy Kimmel, starting with the famous singer. 

"Yeah, I know her. She is such a talented and lovely person." said Sashanya modestly with a smile. 

"Eddie Redmayne." suggested Robert Downey Jr. 

"Oh, yes." said Sashanya in excitement "I love him so much, he's such an amazing person!"

"Priyanka Chopra." said Scarlett.

"Yes, that's my girl!" said Sashanya with a grin. "She's positively phenomenal!"

"Johnny Depp." suggested Sebastian 

"I've met him once." said Sashanya with a smile "He seemed nice but we don't know each other personally."

"Will Smith." suggested Anthony. 

"Oh yeah, I met Will a few weeks back actually." said Sashanya with an excited smile "He is such a great person! I met him at the Aladdin Premiere along with Mena and Naomi!"

"Oh really! How was it?" asked Jimmy in curiosity. 

"Oh they were such lovely, incredibly sweet people. And Aladdin was just a magical experience! I loved every moment of it!" said Sashanya gushing in happiness and excitement "And Naomi was just such a real life Princess Jasmine - she's so awesome and sweet! And Mena - I mean, that boy, he is wonderful!"

"Sashanya has a crush on him!" giggled Chloe as she nudged Sashanya while everyone laughed. 

"What? Yeah, I kinda do." said Sashanya shyly as she buried her head in her hands amidst the hoots of laughter "But he's just super nice. I mean when I first met him, I was like stuttering like an idiot but he didn't laugh at me or make fun of me like other guys ... he was just really sweet and kind."

"You two would make a hotass couple." said Camren supportively. 

"Ah, no. I mean, Mena has to be taken. A guy as sweet as him must have a girlfriend." said Sashanya with a smile and shrug. 

"You underestimate your charm." said Scarlett as she patted Sashanya's shoulder.

"No, I correctly estimate it." said Sashanya with a grin making everyone laugh. 

Jimmy laughed and then looked at the three girls "Now, I've been watching you three online and I have seen how you've captured the hearts of millions through Dubsmash. Take a look."

Then a video played of Camren, Chloe and Sashanya dancing and lip syncing to Ugly Heart with incredibly hilarious expressions and sexy dance moves. Then the video finished and Jimmy started to speak amidst the audience's applause. 

"Now that is just one of the many Dubsmashes you've done." said Jimmy with a grin "Now tonight, we're going to play a game called Lip Sync Battle Championship where Camren, Chloe, Sashanya and Tom will battle against Sebastian, Robert, Scarlett and Anthony for being the Champions!"

"YASSSS!!!" yelled the cast members in approval and excitement. 

"So are you ready?" asked Jimmy from the audience and the cast members.

"Yes we are!" said Robert and it was followed by cheers and hoots of Sebastian, Sashanya, Anthony, Tom, Camren, Scarlett and Chloe. 

Some moments later, they were all ready for the battle. They had informed their songs to Jimmy and Tom, Camren, Chloe and Sashanya were huddled together planning their strategies to win while Robert, Scarlett, Sebastian and Anthony were laughing at them. Sebastian looked at the four of them who had all worn matching colored outfits. Tom was wearing a black colored suit, Chloe was wearing a dark black off the shoulder pantsuit, Camren was wearing a sleeveless black dress, and Sashanya was wearing a sleeved sweet princessy glittering dress. All of them were laughing as they chatted with each other and Sebastian looked at Sashanya and thought she looked absolutely temptingly delicious in her sweet black dress with her hair falling in beautiful dyed brown waves all around her perfectly. 

"Welcome back!" announced Jimmy Kimmel in excitement "We're back with the cast of 'Batgirl: The Court of Avengers' and this time we're going to see them battle to be the world champion of Dubsmash!"

They were in a large boxing ring, which in opposite ends the two teams were sitting and booing at each other. Jimmy Kimmel laughed "The teams will lip sync a song of their choice for three rounds and the audience will choose the winner! The atmosphere is tense and I'm loving it!"

"But remember, I want a good and fair fight!" instructed Jimmy as he saw Sashanya, Camren, Chloe and Tom challenging Robert, Sebastian, Scarlett and Anthony "No biting, no spitting, no touching!"

Everyone burst into laughter and Jimmy grinned as he looked at Robert, Sebastian, Anthony and Scarlett "Right, you are up first!"

Everyone laughed at their name and watched and clapped as they started to dance to Gangsters Paradise. It was well done and hilarious and Sashanya cheered as she watched Sebastian dance. He made her laugh with his funny moves and finally when it was over the audience clapped while Jimmy cheered and Sashanya, Camren, Tom and Chloe booed out loudly. 

Then Jimmy looked at Sashanya, Tom, Camren and Chloe with a smile "C'mon, you're up next! You're singing Bang Bang! This is a tough song to lip sync to."

Sashanya, Camren, Chloe and Sashanya stood up and fist bumped each other in encouragement and Anthony yelled mockingly "Give it all you got, kiddos!"

"You see anybody could be bad to you." began Camren with a smirk as the music started blaring and then Sashanya stepped up with a smile "You need a good girl to blow your mind, yeah!"

"Bang bang into the room (I know you want it), Bang bang all over you (I’ll let you have it)" lip synced Camren, Sashanya, Tom and Chloe as they started jumping up and down as they danced wildly. 

Everyone started laughing at the four of them dancing because their dance moves were so wild, weird and hilarious. They weren't coordinated and cool like Robert, Sebastian, Scarlett and Anthony had been, they were a mess. They were genuinely having fun, laughing, lip syncing with incredibly funny expressions and weird dance moves.

"Wait a minute let me take you there (ah),Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!)" lip synced all of them and Chloe pointed at the audience who cheered out loudly and Camren and Tom were doing this weird dance together while Sashanya whipped her hair back and forth.

"Bang bang there goes your heart (I know you want it), Back, back seat of my car (I’ll let you have it)" they lip synced while laughing at Sashanya who was twerking "Wait a minute let me take you there (ah)"

"Wait a minute 'til you (ah, hey!)" Camren, Chloe, Sashanya and Tom lip synced and finished dancing as they laughed at their own silliness. 

Jimmy Kimmel came in, laughing at the four kids and looked at Sashanya who was giggling uncontrollably with her friends "Sashanya, you were like a woman possessed!"

"Thank you!" said Sashanya as she smiled happily at the laughing audience and saw that the cast members were laughing too including Sebastian. 

She smiled at Sebastian who was laughing happily. One of the things she really loved was seeing Sebastian laughed. Sebastian had no idea how beautiful he was when he laughed and she was glad that she was the reason for Sebastian's beautiful laughter.

The second round came along and Robert, Sebastian, Scarlett and Anthony went first lip syncing to Hook by Blues Traveler which was greeted by enthusiastic cheers from the audience and eye rolls by Camren, Chloe, Sashanya and Tom. When they finished, Jimmy clapped for them and looked at Tom, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe who were giving Robert, Sebastian, Scarlett and Anthony thumbs down and eye rolls and booing at them. 

"Going to be hard to beat that!" said Jimmy laughing at Tom, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe's antics "C'mon kids, it's your turn. You're going to sing the Spice Girls!"

Sashanya, Tom, Camren and Chloe stood up and the music began to play as Sebastian, Anthony, Robert and Scarlett said "OOOOHHHH!!!"

"Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want." began Sashanya lip syncing as she addressed Tom, Camren and Chloe. 

"So tell me what you want, what you really really want" asked Tom lip syncing as he looked at Sashanya with a grin. 

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want" said Chloe lip syncing with a grin as she snapped her fingers. 

"So tell me what you want, what you really really want" said Camren lip syncing as she put her arm around Chloe

"I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really" began Sashanya lip syncing and then paused with the beat as she smiled sweetly "Really really wanna zigazig ha"

"If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends." the four of them began lip syncing as they danced and Sashanya pointed subtly at Sebastian with a wink, taking him by surprise as a blush rose in his cheeks and then pointed towards Tom, Camren and Chloe.

"Make it last forever, friendship never ends." they all lip synced as they hugged each other while giggling and the audience swooned over them. 

"If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give." Sashanya, Camren, Tom and Chloe sang together as they danced and finished the song"Taking is too easy but that's the way it is!"

Everyone started clapping and cheering happily and loudly for them as the four of them hugged. Sebastian looked at Sashanya who was absolutely amazing and who had just flirted with him. But that wasn't possible. Sashanya had a crush on that Aladdin guy! But Sebastian knew what he had seen and felt. She had flirted with him not anyone else. His heart raced wildly at the thought of it and he smiled shyly as he blushed a deep red and tried to hide it. 

"Wow what a performance!" praised Jimmy Kimmel as the audience cheered wildly for the four superheroes "Now, Robert, Sebastian, Scarlett, Anthony, this is round three, so the important question is .... can you beat that performance?"

"Absolutely!" said Sebastian confidently as he looked at Sashanya who blushed a light pink and he grinned. 

And Robert, Scarlett, Anthony and Sebastian started to lip sync and dance to Livin a Vida Loca, and the crowd cheered in excitement, Sebastian could feel Sashanya's eyes on him taking in his every move. He smiled to himself as he did a hip thrust to finish up and he saw Sashanya swallowing as she turned a little red. Then Sebastian looked at Sashanya gave her a mischievous and knowing smile, and Sashanya immediately went beetroot red and avoided his stare, to his amusement. 

"That was one hell of a lip sync performance!" announced Jimmy as he clapped in excitement and he looked at Tom, Sashanya, Chloe and Camren "Now, it's your final performance, how are you feeling guys?"

"We're feeling pretty confident." said Camren confidently with a grin "We're going to win this!"

"No way!" booed Scarlett and Robert, Anthony and Sebastian booed at them. 

"Alright, here they are singing I'll Be There For You!" announced Jimmy Kimmel and the music started playing and Tom, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe started dancing.

"So no one told you life was gonna be this way" began Camren lip syncing with a charming smile and then looked at Tom "You're job's a joke." then at Chloe "You're broke" and then at Sashanya who grinned and nodded in approval "You're love life's D.O.A"

"It's like you're always stuck in second gear. When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, but" began Chloe lip syncing with a grin. 

And Sashanya, Chloe, Camren and Tom began lip syncing as they danced around "I'll be there for you (When the rain starts to pour). I'll be there for you (Like I've been there before). I'll be there for you ('Cause you're there for me too)."

"You're still in bed at ten ,And work began at eight" lip synced Tom with a cute smile and then shrugged casually "You've burned your breakfast, so far,Things are going great"

"Your mother warned you there'd be days like these" lip synced Sashanya as she smiled at everyone and then looked at her friends with an affectionate grin "But she didn't tell you when the world has brought you down to your knees and" 

"I'll be there for you (When the rain starts to pour)." Camren, Chloe, Tom and Sashanya lip synced together to each other as they danced and Tom twirled Sashanya around while Chloe and Camren danced together.

"I'll be there for you (Like I've been there before)" they lip synced together with each other laughing and smiling as Camren, Chloe, Sashanya and Tom danced with each other. 

"I'll be there for you ('Cause you're there for me too)." finished Camren, Chloe, Sashanya and Tom as they put their arms around each other and pulled each other into a group hug. 

The crowd went wild with love and excitement as the stood up and clapped and cheered for Sashanya, Tom, Camren and Chloe who still had their arms around each other and bowed and waved at the crowd who absolutely loved them. 

"Wow, who's going to win Lip Sync Battle Championship?" asked Jimmy loudly amidst the cheering and clapping "Is it Robert, Sebastian, Anthony and Scarlett? Or is it Tom, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe?"

The audience cheered loudly for the lastly mentioned names and Jimmy announced "It's Tom, Sashanya, Camren and Chloe!"

The audience screamed in excitement and Robert, Scarlett, Anthony and Sebastian clapped and hugged each of them "Well done kiddos!"

As Sebastian hugged Sashanya he whispered into her ear "You were phenomenal."

Sashanya blushed as she smiled shyly at him "You weren't so bad yourself."

Then Sashanya, Tom, Camren, and Chloe were handed a large golden trophy and a bouquet of red roses amidst confetti and cheering crowd as they jumped up and down in excitement and hugged and high fived each other. 

Seeing Sashanya so happy, celebrating her own quirkiness and friendship with her closest friends made Sebastian happy. 

Because maybe Sashanya didn't know this but Sebastian thought that Sashanya was absolutely brilliant when she smiled so brightly and genuinely.


	14. Chapter 14

Chloe, Camren and Sashanya were hanging out together at a crowded pub, where they were eating freshly baked chicken tenders with BBQ sauce and nachos topped with cheddar - jacked cheese and jalapeños, accompanied with salsa & sour cream as they enjoyed happy hour's freshly made cocktails, listening to the crooning unfamiliar voice of a man singing 'Dancing in the Moonlight' which bought back waves of nostalgia that hit hard for all three of them. The Fire Skewer Pub was a special place for the three girls, it was where they would hang out all the time when they lived in L.A. Everyone knew the three girls very well here and greetings of welcome and hugs of warmth were exchanged between friends they had made and not seen in a long time. They loved this pub, because they knew that this was one place that they could just be normal, regular girls who could snort in laughter, sing loudly at the mic, eat as much as they wanted, and get drunk as fuck and no one would bat an eye or leak videos or pictures to the press. It was one of the places that the press and the paparazzi didn't even know about. The people who hung out in the pub were cool and kind, and the owner, Bob, was the most amazing person in the world. Seeing the three girls grace his pub with their presence after a long time he had given the food and the drinks on the house for them and in return, to the delight of everyone, the three girls had announced that the drinks were on them for everyone in the pub. 

Camren, Chloe and Sashanya were feeling happy and relaxed as they chatted with each other about the movie, about the newest gossip in Hollywood, about memes and epic fails and about their TV shows when Camren nudged Chloe who had been texting someone furiously with a frown on her face for a few moments.

"Why are your thumbs racing so fast, Chloe?" asked Camren with a half smile, genuinely concerned, exchanging worried glances with Sashanya. Because to both of them, Chloe was their ray of sunshine, and they didn't want her to be unhappy. 

"Oh, it's nothing. Just some stuff with Kate." said Chloe with a sigh as she stuffed her phone into her pockets "The long distance is really getting in the middle of our relationship."

"That sucks." said Sashanya understandingly "But you can work through it. If I know anyone who can get through it, it's Kate and you."

"I know. It's just really hard for us to be apart." said Chloe shaking her head "I really care about her and our relationship and it just kills me that I can't spend every hour with her by her side. I love what I do, but sometimes I wish it wasn't like this."

"I know what you mean." said Camren as she nodded her head, thinking about her own loving boyfriend "I miss Daniel like crazy."

"You two talk all the time. You two face time all the time. Yesterday I walked in on you talking dirty to him." said Chloe giggling as she made fun of Camren.

"Hey, it spices up the relationship." said Camren indignantly, making Chloe laugh and Sashanya pull a mock disgusted face. "And, yes, we do talk all the time on the phone but it doesn't compare to the real thing, you know?"

"Yeah." said Chloe with a dopey smile, that Sashanya hadn't ever seen on her face "It's scary but it's totally worth it. I'd wait forever for Kate."

"Okay." said Sashanya intervening, rolling her eyes at both her love struck friends "Both of you are disgusting, love struck creatures and no fun to hang out with anymore."

Camren and Chloe laughed at Sashanya knowing very well that their best friend was joking around and Camren grinned "Wait till you get yourself a boyfriend, Sashanya. You'll be worse than us!"

"I will not." said Sashanya with a laugh. 

"I think she already had a boyfriend. A secret boyfriend." said Chloe teasingly as she laughed along with Camren.

Sashanya raised her eyebrows at both of her mentally insane friends "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"Isn't she adorable?" asked Camren as she chuckled "We're talking about your relationship with Sebastian, you idiot!"

Sashanya had just taken a sip of her Cosmopolitan when she started choking at hearing Camren's words. Camren looked very amused, as if she was enjoying every moment of this and Chloe looked concerned as she thumped Sashanya on her back. 

"Sebastian?" screeched Sashanya in shock, not caring that she was attracting the surprised attention of a few customers "Sebastian Stan?"

"Are there any other Sebastians' that we know? Or you know?" asked Camren with a shit eating grin "If so, do enlighten us."

"What?" asked Sashanya still confused and taken aback. 

"Honey, you don't need to act surprised." said Chloe in a lovely, reassuring tone which annoyed Sashanya for some reason "We all know that you have a thing for Sebastian and Sebastian has a thing for you."

"I am not acting surprised! I am surprised!" spluttered Sashanya in surprise "And what the hell do you mean by 'we'?"

"Oh, really anyone with good eyesight and logical reasoning." replied Camren smoothly with a grin. "Oh, come on there's no need to pretend with us."

"I am not pretending!" huffed Sashanya glaring at both Camren and Chloe who were smirking evilly "Why won't you believe me?"

"Because Sebastian stares at you like he wants to bang you onto a wall and rip all your clothes off." said Camren casually and this time Sashanya spit her drink in shock and disbelief.

"Jesus, Camren!" exclaimed Sashanya looking at her laughing best friend in disbelief and humor "What the hell?"

"And you look at Sebastian like you want to marry him and grow old with him." supplied Chloe with a mischievous smile and Camren nodded in agreement.

"I do not!" said Sashanya annoyed that her two best friends, the two women she trusted, were ganging up on her. 

"Oh, you oblivious idiot." sighed Camren as she smirked "You both are oblivious idiots. Just kiss!"

"We're just friends." said Sashanya wanting this to be over "And you know my rules, I don't date anyone from the industry."

"So, if Sebastian was not from the -" began Chloe but Sashanya glared at her. 

"Wherever you're going with that the answer is no." said Sashanya rolling her eyes at Chloe. 

"Come on, Sashanya!" said Camren, trying to make her best friend see sense "You have to admit it. There is some spark between you two. There is something that could potentially blossom and grown into something beautiful."

"No." said Sashanya shaking her head at Camren, feeling the heat creep up her neck at the thought of Sebastian and her together. "Just, stop it. Sebastian and I ... we're nothing more than colleagues."

Chloe and Camren were about to object to her opinion but then Sashanya's phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket. She took a deep breath when she saw who it was that was calling her and smiled a little. 

"Who is it?" asked Chloe and Camren curiously. 

Sashanya shrugged and answered the phone in a casual and unaffected voice "Hey, Cole. Long time, no see or hear or speak."

"Hey Sashanya." greeted Cole's deep and charming voice "Yeah, it's been far too long."

Camren and Chloe were looking at her in surprise as they made wild gestures and Sashanya ignored them as she swallowed and asked "How have you been?"

"Oh, I'm good." said Cole as he chuckled a little "I'm doing fine. How are you?"

"I'm good too." said Sashanya as she dusted off the crumbs on the pub table not knowing why this was so awkward. Cole and her had been very good friends a long time ago and then they had gradually lost contact. She was glad he was calling her but she had no idea why he was calling her "A little busy, doing press tours for the new movie."

"I heard. The new Batgirl movie." said Cole enthusiastically and Sashanya could imagine Cole's happy grin from the other side of the line "Congratulations by the way! It's amazing and you deserve all of it!"

"Thank you." said Sashanya quietly with a small smile and then said "I saw your new movie. Five Feet Apart."

"Did you?" asked Cole. He sounded almost surprised as if he didn't expect Sashanya to watch it "What did you think?"

"I liked Andy Grammar's song." said Sashanya with a smile and Cole laughed, his laugh deep and hearty and real "It was heartbreaking."

"Knowing you, you love getting your heartbroken." said Cole softly and Sashanya smiled a little.

"Yeah. Well, I don't want to add to your ego." began Sashanya jokingly and Cole laughed again, carefree and happy "But you were great. Truly."

"Thank you, Sashanya." said Cole sincerely. "That means a lot to me."

"So, I was thinking, that it's been a long time and we haven't seen each other in quite a well." began Cole after a few moments of silence "Maybe we could catch up, talk over dinner tomorrow."

Sashanya was surprised at the offer but delighted as well "That sounds lovely."

"Oh, I hope you don't mind but Lili will be joining us as well." said Cole lightly after a moment of tense and undecided silence. 

"Wow, you know what, I just realized I can't make it because Camren has this incurable disea -" began Sashanya as she wracked her her head for some excuse while Camren just glared at her incredulously in disbelief.

"Sashanya -" began Cole but Sashanya interrupted him as she rolled her eyes. 

"Cole, I can't come. In case, you have forgotten, Lili hates me more than anything else in the world for a reason only she knows." said Sashanya her voice rising and Camren and Chloe looked at her in concern.

"She doesn't hate you." said Cole, trying to smooth things over and make peace but Sashanya wasn't having it. 

"Cole, she slapped me. In front of everyone. For no reason. After the director clearly cut the scene." said Sashanya "And then pretended that she hadn't heard the director cut the scene. And also the dissing on Twitter and every TV show she goes to. Adding fuel to the fire of our rumored feud. Cole, a smart man such as yourself, surely cannot ignore all that."

Cole sighed and then pleaded, his voice desperate in a way Sashanya had never heard before "Sashanya, I need you to do this for me."

"Why?" asked Sashanya, her voice cold and hard. 

Cole spoke in a low voice "I'm just - look, I love Lili very much. But I miss you too. I've been having a tough time lately and just meeting up with you will cheer me up."

"I'm not some toy clown that is hired to make you laugh whenever you're feeling down in the dumps, Cole." said Sashanya harshly. 

"I know. You're my friend. And I miss you." said Cole with a sigh "Just put up with Lili for one evening. Bring a date if you want. Just come, please."

Sashanya closed her eyes as she rubbed her temple and sighed "Fine. On one condition."

"Name it." said Cole as he whooped in excitement. 

"Choose a nice restaurant with amazing food and loads of drinks." said Sashanya with a grin. 

"Done." said Cole in excitement "I can't wait! I'll text you the details."

"Can't wait too." said Sashanya shaking her head at Cole's excitement "See you there."

Then she cut the call and saw Chloe and Camren looking at her with exasperated expressions as they shook their heads at her. Sashanya sighed as she shrugged and smiled at them. 

"Chill, it's only a dinner."

"It's only a dinner?" scoffed Camren rolling her eyes at her best friend's statement "Would you say it's only a heart attack?"

"Or would you say it's only a bullet to the brain?" asked Chloe dramatically as she took a sip of her cocktail 

"Come on, guys." said Sashanya smiling a little at their dramatics but knew deep down in her heart that they were going to be right "It's going to be fine."

"Wise last words, Sashanya." said Camren as she raised her glass in toast to her "We will remember you fondly when you're dead. The fool who signed the deal with a devil."

"Cole is not a devil." said Sashanya, her lips twitching into a smile at Camren's words.

"No, perhaps not." said Camren as her eyes turned icy cold and Sashanya knew that look very well. It was her protective look. "But his selfish, horrible, cruel, bitch of a girlfriend is."

"Amen to that." agreed Chloe nodding her head. "Have you forgotten what she did to you?"

"No." said Sashanya gritting her teeth at the memories "No, I have not. But, it's just one evening. I know what I'm dealing with now. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Let me engrave that on your tombstone, Sashanya." said Camren with a sardonic chuckle "What could possibly go wrong, indeed? Oh, I don't know, what about Lili the fucking devil herself Reinhart torturing and killing you!"

"Look, don't worry, I'll be fine." said Sashanya reassuringly to Chloe who snorted and Camren who rolled her eyes "Glad to see you have so much faith in me."

"We have faith in you." said Chloe "We just don't trust that bitch."

"I know we are supposed to empower other women and shit but I really hate Lili." said Camren shaking her head in disgust "She's the worst."

"I agree." said Sashanya nodding her head "Look, I won't be alone. I'll have a date with me."

"Well, I suppose that'll help a little." said Chloe thoughtfully "Who are you going to take?"

"I thought maybe I could ask Shawn." said Sashanya hopefully. Shawn and Sashanya were good friends and knew each other very well. 

"Shawn Mendes?" asked Camren and then shook her head "No good. He's in Toronto, performing for some award show."

"How do you know that?" asked Chloe as she looked in surprise at Camren. 

"Don't need to be surprised. You all know that I'm the one who keeps up with the latest news, gossip and rumors in the industry." said Camren with a grin making the other two girls chuckle and then looked at Sashanya "Oh by the way, heads up. Apparently the latest rumor is that we hate each other because you cropped me out of a picture. And no one cares that I asked you to do it because I didn't like how I looked in it."

"Good to know." said Sashanya with a grin at Camren who grinned back. 

"So who will Sashanya take?" asked Chloe getting back to the issue and then Camren and Chloe exchanged mischievous stares that usually meant a genius idea had struck them both but this genius idea turned out to be trouble "We know who you can take!"

"Sebastian!" squealed Chloe and Camren together in excitement. 

"No fucking way." said Sashanya refusing as she shook his head. 

"Come on!" protested Camren "He is the perfect date!"

"It's not professional!" argued Sashanya not knowing what else to say. 

"Oh, screw professional!" said Chloe throwing her hands up in frustration "Look, it's not like you're actually on an official date with him. You're just taking him as a friend to meet a friend!"

"Exactly!" said Camren as she grinned at Sashanya "He's the perfect fit. He's hot, he's hot, he's hot and he adores you, so he'll do anything for you!"

"What?" asked Sashanya trying to control her friends outburst "No, he will never agree to it."

"Did you not just hear what Camren said?" asked Chloe as she shook Sashanya by the shoulders "He'll do anything for you!"

Sashanya was about to protest when she saw that Camren was already on the phone. Suddenly the sickening realization of what her best friend was doing hit her and she lunged at her best friend but Chloe caught her in time and held her back as Camren began to speak to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Sebastian." greeted Camren smoothly as she shot a evil grin to her best friend who began to protest loudly but Chloe put her hand over Sashanya's mouth silencing her "Yeah, it's me, Camren. Yeah, listen, so Sashanya wanted to call you but her phone died and there's no way to charge it and that's why she wanted to talk to you through my phone. So Sashanya wants to ask you something very important ... it's a matter of life and death. And I'll just give the phone to her so that she can ask you herself."

Chloe let go of Sashanya as Camren handed over her phone to Sashanya with a wink and a grin "Go get him, tigress."

"I am going to rip you apart and kill you!" threatened Sashanya, genuinely betrayed by Camren but there was a hint of slight amusement in her face. 

"Sure." said Camren shrugging as if the threat hadn't bothered her at all "Now, your lover boy is waiting."

Sashanya put the phone to her ear and nervously said ignoring Camren's smirk and Chloe's giggles "Sebastian?"

"Hey, Sashanya, hey!" greeted Sebastian enthusiastically. 

"Hi, I hope I didn't bother you." said Sashanya apologetically to Sebastian as she glared at Camren who smiled sweetly at her. 

"No, not at all." said Sebastian with a chuckle "So, Camren tells me that you have a life and death situation you need my help with."

"Yeah." said Sashanya as she took a deep breath and looked at her friends who were giving her encouraging nods and smiles "Well - I'm meeting up with one of my friends after a really long time for dinner tomorrow and well - I don't have a date." The next few words, Sashanya rushed out quickly in embarrassment "Would you like to be my date for the dinner?"

"Sure, I'd love to." said Sebastian in genuine enthusiasm.

"Really?" asked Sashanya taken back in surprise and relief. 

"Yeah, of course." said Sebastian sounding genuinely happy "When and where is this happening?"

"Oh, I'll text you the details." said Sashanya as she breathed a sigh of relief "Sebastian, really, thank you so much! You really saved my life!"

"No problem." said Sebastian with a chuckle and then asked softly "Well, what happens after I've saved you?"

"I'll save you right back." replied Sashanya quoting the line which was all too familiar to her.

Sebastian laughed softly and then said "Well, then I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." said Sashanya with a huge smile "See you tomorrow."

Sashanya cut the line and then smiled widely at her best friends as she let out a happy squeal "He said yes!"

"YAAAAYYY!!!!!" yelled Camren and Chloe happily as the hugged Sashanya making her laugh giddily and then Camren waggled her eyebrows at Sashanya "I told you, he would say yes."

"He would do anything for you." said Chloe with a grin, as if the fact was universal.

Sashanya rolled her eyes affectionately at her best friend and Camren climbed onto the table and cleared her throat loudly getting the attention of everybody. Then she grinned as she announced loudly "Everyone, my best friend, Sashanya just asked a guy she likes out on a date. And he said yes!"

Everyone cheered loudly and applauded wildly and wolf whistling and there were some screaming "He said yes!" and some were yelling "YASSS GIRL!!!". Sashanya buried her face in her hands as she laughed at the ridiculousness of it all and Chloe joined in the clapping and hooting and Camren announced with a grin. 

"Drinks for everyone on Sashanya!"


	15. Chapter 15

Sashanya walked confidently into the beautiful and fine dining The Odyssey restaurant that Cole had picked for them to meet. Although Sashanya walked with confidence, grace and elegance of royalty, she was bundle of nerves inside. She couldn't help it. She was finally going to meet a good friend who she had lost in touch for a quite a while and have dinner with him and his witch of a girlfriend accompanied by a very kind, handsome, smart and funny man named Sebastian Stan who she most definitely only liked as a friend and a colleague. She took in a deep breath and encouraged and assured herself over and over again that she was going to be fine. Sashanya was in control. She had the power. Sashanya felt powerful thanks to what she was wearing. She secretly thanked that Camren and Chloe had the sense to march into her hotel room and sort out her dress, make up, shoes, accessories and hair for her. 

Sashanya felt very comfortable and confident in what she was wearing right now. She wore a classy sleeveless, sexy low cut dark emerald green dress which reached towards her ankles and golden brown ankle strapped high heels. Her ears were accessorized with golden stud earrings lent by Chloe and her very favorite golden snake bracelet was wrapped around her wrist. Her dark hair was styles into a messy yet elegant bun, and her make up was light and natural complemented with her favorite classic red lipstick. She had left late and realized that Sebastian had left earlier than her. They had decided to leave the hotel separately and meet up at the restaurant itself. So, Sashanya was relieved when she saw Sebastian standing at the reception, looking extremely handsome in a white button down dress shirt with a two buttons undone and black pants and shiny black shoes, with his hair neat but messed up at the same time. 

Sashanya did not suck in a breath at seeing how extremely handsome Sebastian was. And she definitely did not feel her heart race in nervousness and excitement at the sight of the wonderful man who smiled at her in greeting with his brilliant smile. 

"Hi." said Sebastian as he smiled at her and kissed her cheek sweetly making Sashanya blush a brilliant red "You look so - wow!"

Sashanya laughed lightly, slightly breathless "Thanks. You look great too."

"Thanks." said Sebastian with a grin "You don't think it's too much?"

"No, you're perfect." said Sashanya messing with Sebastian's shirt collar not seeing him freeze and then smile softly and shyly. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, let's do this." said Sebastian with a smile and placed his hand on the small of Sashanya's back making shivers of excitement and electricity run through her. 

They spoke to the lady at the reception giving her the reservation details and she immediately jumped to their service as she looked at them in awe and wonder and lead them to their table. Sashanya and Sebastian walked through the restaurant confidently, noticing very well all the stares of awe, curiosity, envy, admiration and adoration that they were getting. 

Sebastian chuckled as he whispered in a low voice to Sashanya "They're all looking at you."

"Nonsense." said Sashanya with a smile "They're looking at you."

"They're definitely looking at you." said Sebastian as he grinned at the sight of a man who blushed when he met Sashanya's eyes "You're captivatingly beautiful."

Sashanya blushed brightly but she kept a neutral expression trying not to smile at Sebastian's compliment and Sebastian smiled at her "How do you do it?"

"What?" asked Sashanya as she looked at Sebastian. 

"Command everyone's attention so well and then act like it's nothing at all?" asked Sebastian fascinated. 

"I don't do that." said Sashanya as she laughed lightly.

"Yes, you do." said Sebastian with a grin. 

"They see what they want to see. They love me and they hate me. They want to be my friend and they want to be me." said Sashanya with a smirk and then her eyes flew across the room as she saw their stares "It's easy to get lost in all that noise. So I keep my head up and ignore all of their stares because they mean nothing to me."

"That's brutal." said Sebastian softly after a few moments of silence.

"Believe me, I learnt it the hard way." said Sashanya, her eyes dancing in sardonic laughter. 

There was a few moments of silence and then Sashanya looked at Sebastian with a beautiful smile "I wanted to thank you for doing this. You didn't have to, I'm sure you had better things to do than be my date."

Sebastian laughed at Sashanya's blabbering "I really didn't have anything else. And anyway, I'm happy to be here for you."

"Thank you so much." said Sashanya with a grateful smile that made Sebastian happy "It means a lot to me."

"Oh, no worries." said Sebastian nonchalently and then grinned "You still haven't told me who your friend is."

"Oh yeah, how stupid of me." began Sashanya but then her jaw dropped when the receptionist led her to the balcony where fairy lights blinked in a magical daze, the quiet chatter and laughter of people filled the air, the clinking of glasses and plates and cutlery could be heard, the breeze gently swished here and there and best of all the whole view of Los Angeles could be seen from up here. Sashanya let out a little delighted gasp as she took in the palm trees and the blinking light and the tiny houses and the active, hurried movement down below there. 

Because no matter how famous she was, or how many places she had traveled to or how many awards she had won .... beautiful views like this never failed to take her breath away.

"It's beautiful." said Sashanya softly in wonder as she took in the breathtaking view.

Sebastian was in awe too and he smiled at a delighted Sashanya who smiled back at him. The receptionist led her to a table in the quiet corner of the balcony where Sashanya immediately recognized the person she had come to meet. 

"Mr. Sprouse, may I present Miss Fernandez and Mr. Stan." said the receptionist elegantly. 

"Thank you." said Cole charmingly. 

The receptionist smiled at all three of them in awe "Should you require my services, please do not hesitate. I'll be here .... for anything."

"That's good to know." said Sashanya with a smile "Thank you."

The receptionist bowed, BOWED! - and Sashanya suppressed her laughter as the woman scuttled away. Then she turned to the fair skinned man with dark and tousled hair and twinkling eyes who was smiling at her as if he knew a secret only the two of them were supposed to know. Sashanya's nervousness faded away as she looked fondly at the handsome man in front of her and greeted him with a happy smile.

"Cole."

"Sashanya!" greeted Cole with a bright grin as he stretched his arms wide open and Sashanya hugged him. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too." said Sashanya with a warm smile "It's so good to see you again."

"I know." agreed Cole wholeheartedly as he looked at the woman in front of him admiringly "Look at you! Even more beautiful than the day I met you!"

Sashanya blushed a little, and Sebastian cleared his throat signalling his presence and Cole looked at Sebastian with one eyebrow raised questioningly and Sashanya quickly began the introductions "Oh, Sebastian, this is Cole. We worked together on the set of the TV show Riverdale for a while."

"And we're good friends." said Cole with a smile that didn't quite reach his smile as he looked at Sebastian who was standing quite close to Sashanya. 

"Well - yes." said Sashanya not knowing if good friends lose touch with each other without any reason but she shoved that thought away "Cole, this is my date for the evening, Sebastian Stan."

"Pleased to meet you, Sebastian." said Cole pleasantly as he offered his hand to Sebastian 

"The pleasure is all mine." said Sebastian with a smile but Sashanya noticed that it didn't quite reach his eyes. 

They all sat down, Sebastian and Sashanya on one side and Cole on the other side. Sashanya took in a deep breath and then smiled at Cole. "So what have you been doing these days?"

"Oh, just taking some time off. Another season of Riverdale is over." informed Cole, as he sat back on his chair.

Sashanya smiled tightly at Cole "I wouldn't know. I've never watched it."

"You've worked on it but you haven't watched it?" asked Sebastian amused.

"She thinks Riverdale is a terrible show." said Cole in amusement "She thinks the only good season was Season 1. She stopped watching half way through season 2 because apparently according to her, it was terrible."

"It is terrible." said Sashanya honestly making Cole and Sebastian chuckle "It's unwatchable and cringey, Cole."

"Why did you act in it, then?" asked Sebastian curiously 

"Because they actually wrote an interesting, powerful and mysterious character." said Sashanya shrugging with a smile as if it was common sense "I mean, I got to be the Queen of the Serpents. A badass gang leader. It was so cool!"

Cole laughed at her enthusiasm "Well, you were phenomenal. You were mind - blowing!"

"Thank you, Cole." said Sashanya with a laugh as she tossed her hair. 

"I miss you." said Cole as he looked at Sashanya with a smile but there was sadness in his eyes "The show's not the same without you."

"You know why I left." said Sashanya gently as she sighed with a smile "There was nothing for me to contribute anymore. There wasn't any creativity or any meaningfulness in the show and I couldn't stay because of that."

"I know, but you left suddenly." said Cole observantly as he lit a cigarette and Sashanya froze up. She knew Cole was clever, he noticed things that most people didn't. However she had hoped that he would keep quiet about this particular fact. "Why?"

"You know why." said Sashanya confidently as she smiled at Cole "I wanted a change of scenery, and I wasn't happy with what I was doing."

Cole looked like he wanted to say something more but at that moment his phone buzzed and he took it and checked a few messages that he had received. Then he quickly replied to them while Sebastian and Sashanya chatted and then put down his phone and smiled at the two of them. 

"So, Lili is on her way." said Cole with a tight smile.

"Oh joy." muttered Sashanya under her breath and this was audible only to Sebastian who looked at her puzzled "How ... lovely?"

Cole smiled but it was strained and Sashanya noticed that something was wrong right away as he said to her "I'm glad you're here."

"Here for what?" asked Sashanya suspiciously as she eyed Cole. 

"What do you mean?" asked Cole as he blew out some smoke as he looked innocently.

"I know something is wrong, Cole." said Sashanya and the warmth in her face was replaced by a cold and hard expression which surprised Sebastian and as Cole began to shake his head, Sashanya snapped "Don't play dumb with me, don't you ever dare play dumb with me, Sprouse. Don't you dare do that."

Cole looked at her silently for a few moments, as if he was contemplating on whether or not to say something to her and then finally blurted out "I'm about to break up with Lili."

"WHAT?" asked Sashanya loudly in shock startling a few people who were peacefully dining. 

"Oh Noooooooooooo." said Sebastian dragging out the 'O' loudly, feeling awkward and broke into a small laugh when Sashanya gave him an exasperated look. 

"What do you mean you want to break up with Lili?" asked Sashanya as she looked at Cole in shock "What happened? I thought things were good between you too."

"It was." said Cole looking disheartened and unhappy "But, things aren't just the same anymore. There's just no spark between us anymore. We have different interests. We just don't click anymore."

"Man, that sucks." said Sebastian sympathetically. 

"I thought you invited me here to catch up with me." said Sashanya as she looked in disbelief and exasperation at Cole. "What the hell, Cole? I did not sign up to witness a break up?"

"I did! I want this to be a normal and nice dinner for us." said Cole honestly trying to reassure an annoyed Sashanya "I have an airtight break up plan in place. I was going to take her some place nice but not romantic and break it off gently as possible. I don't want to say the wrong thing and hurt her more than I have to. That's why I'm half way through writing the break up speech."

"You wrote a break up speech?" asked Sebastian looking at Cole incredulously. 

"Of course, how do you expect to break up with someone without knowing what you want to say?" asked Cole looking at Sebastian as if he was the biggest idiot in the world.

"Cole is right, Sebastian. Do you not do that?" asked Sashanya agreeing with Cole making Sebastian roll his eyes.

"But it's been on my mind for so long and I can't control it. I don't know how long I can go without blowing it off." sighed Cole as he looked at Sebastian and Sashanya. 

"Oh, I'm sure you're overstating that." said Sebastian trying to be comforting and Sashanya nodded in agreement with Sebastian.

"Today I chatted with her for almost a minute on the phone and when she told me that she loved me, I panicked and yelled 'LOL'." said Cole looking panic stricken. 

Sashanya chuckled at that and then sobered up at the look she was given by Cole and then said sympathetically "Oh no."

"I've been acting weird today and Lili is going to ask why. We're going to break up and things are going to get super messy." said Cole, his words quickly rushing out of his mouth "I really want to break up with her but I want this dinner to go smoothly and I don't know what to do!"

Sashanya had never seen Cole so distraught and shaken, so she took charge of the situation as she said in a calm and steady voice "Okay, calm down. We're going to get you through this, okay?"

Sebastian nodded as he looked at Cole and then at Sashanya who looked as if she had already formulated a strategic plan to get them all through this evening. Sashanya nodded at Cole with a gentle smile "Here's the plan. The four of us will dine and keep things super unromantic. We're great at that."

"Yeah, we are!" cheered Sebastian as he high fived Sashanya.

"Woo hoo!" cheered Sashanya as she high fived Sebastian with a grin and then looked at Sebastian with an amused smile "Wait, why did we high five for that?"

"I don't know." said Sebastian with a light laugh as he shook his head. 

"It doesn't matter." said Sashanya cheerfully as she turned to see Cole looking at Sebastian and her, carefully and knowingly. 

"And also, if you feel like you're losing control of the situation, you should warn us." said Sebastian to Cole who was paler than usual but listening attentively to him "Like a safe-word."

"A safe word. I love that!" said Sashanya enthusiastically as she looked proudly at Sebastian "Um - what about - Justin Bieber?"

"Seriously?" asked Cole, laughing in spite of his internal worry. "That's the safe word?"

"Got a better one, genius?" challenged Sashanya as she folded her arms 

"Serpent!" said Cole his eyes lighting up and Sashanya smiled in realization "Because you and I are part of the Northside Serpents in Riverdale."

"That's what we're going to go with?" asked Sebastian in disbelief but his lips were twitching with amusement. 

"I think it's good." said Sashanya nodding in approval "Serpent. I love that!" 

Cole smiled at Sashanya and Sashanya continued "So, if you feel uncomfortable or like you're losing control, just yell out 'SERPENT' and I'll pull out all the stops."

"Okay." sighed Cole as he breathed in and out nervously, his worry fading away just a little. 

"Okay, so after dinner - you pretend you're sick and you have to leave." said Sebastian as an idea struck him and Sashanya smiled at him while Cole nodded.

"You only have to act normal during the dinner." said Sashanya in a reassuring and calming voice as Sebastian nodded in agreement and then Sashanya looked at Cole "You think you can do that?"

"Yes?" said Cole uncertain of his own ability to get through this dinner. 

"Say yes, yes I can do it!" said Sashanya as she smiled encouragingly at Cole "I can be normal during this dinner!"

"Yes." said Cole breathing in and out, in a tone of uncertainty and then met the kind eyes and the encouraging smile of Sashanya and felt himself feel a little better as he reassured himself "Yes, I can do it! I can be normal!"

"There you go!" said Sashanya with a grin as Sebastian chuckled. 

"I can totally be normal!" said Cole with a huge grin and suddenly Lili appeared at their table wearing a pretty pink slip dress, her blonde hair loose and wavy as she smiled at Cole sweetly and greeted everyone. 

"Hey everybody!" 

"There she is!" boomed out Cole loudly, way too loudly and enthusiastically as he got up and hugged his girlfriend "Ladies and gentlemen, the love of my life is here!"

Sashanya and Sebastian exchanged worried glances as they both really knew what was going to happen. Shit was about to go down. 

Lili giggled as she kissed Cole and Sashanya and Sebastian looked anywhere but at them. As Lili sat down next to Cole, Sashanya saw Lili smile sweetly at her but her eyes said something different. Her eyes were filled with so much of indescribable hatred and malice, that Sashanya wondered what she had ever done to deserve such hate from the girl. She had been nothing but nice, polite and friendly to Lili from the very beginning but Lili had never liked her from the start. Lili had always been rude and hurtful towards Sashanya and no matter what Sashanya did to make Lili like her, it made Lili hate her even more. After some time, Sashanya had given up on getting Lili to like her and just stayed out of her way with respect. But that wasn't enough for Lili. Lili wanted to make Sashanya's life a living hell. And that's why, Sashanya had left Riverdale. Sashanya had loved acting her character, the fans, the cast and the crew but Lili Reinhart had threatened to reveal something private about someone she cared about and Sashanya couldn't do anything but give into her demented demands and leave Riverdale. She didn't understand why Lili would do something like that and she never said a word about it to Cole either. 

Sebastian must have sensed something was wrong because he took Sashanya's hand and squeezed it comfortingly and Sashanya smiled at him affectionately. 

Lili was chatting with Cole but her quick eyes caught that and she smiled at Sashanya "Sashanya, so nice to see you. After, such a long time."

"Oh, Lili, you're too lovely." said Sashanya putting on the smile that captured the hearts of her adoring fans, the smile that won her Oscars. 

"I was surprised when I heard that Cole and you were meeting up." said Lili with a poisonous smile "I thought - pardon me if I'm wrong - but I was under the impression that you didn't talk to each other anymore."

Cole stiffened and Sashanya gritted her teeth as she answered smartly "We don't need to talk all the time for our friendship to remain strong."

Cole relaxed at Sashanya's words and Sebastian watched tensely the battle of wits between the two women who clearly had bad blood between them. 

Lili smiled sweetly at Cole and then at Sashanya "That is just adorable."

Then Lili started laughing and at the same moment Sashanya and Cole joined in as if they found something genuinely funny while Sebastian smiled politely. 

Then Lili's eyes moved onto Sebastian and Sashanya felt the protectiveness in her unleash "Sashanya, my, my, won't you introduce me to your handsome date? I feel as if I've seen him before."

"I'm Sebastian." said Sebastian introducing himself with a gracious but polite smile. 

"It's lovely to meet you, Sebastian." said Lili with a charming smile that Sashanya wanted to immediately wipe out with a punch "Tell me, how long have you and Sashanya been lovers?"

Sashanya looked at their intertwined hands which fit perfectly together then at Sebastian who looked amused and taken aback at the same time and then looked at Lili who looked smug and Sashanya said in a sweet voice, not knowing what she was saying "Yeah. We are lovers. Together. In Beds."

"Okay." said Sebastian taking over feeling amused at Sashanya's reaction and looked at her fondly as he laughed lightly and kissed her on the cheek making her giggle. "Yeah, we are a couple."

Lili looked taken aback and Cole looked almost wounded as he watched the two of them. Cole looked at them suspiciously and asked the million dollar question. 

"So when did you guys meet?" 

"Recently." answered Sashanya vaguely while at the same time Sebastian answered thinking about the movie"Last year."

Lili and Cole both raised their eyebrows at the two of them and Sashanya looked at Sebastian and immediately jumped into correct their mistake "We first met last year for a movie we were making." Sashanya began with a light laugh as she looked at Sebastian who was chuckling as if it was some secret inside joke between them "But we don't count it because -"

"I was dating some model at the time in secret." lied Sebastian with a charming and convincing smile. 

"And I was just so busy with work." said Sashanya laughing as if it was the funniest thing in the world. 

"And anyway, recently we bumped into each other again at a bar and we haven't been able to keep our hands off each other since." finished Sebastian with a sweet smile as he put his arm around Sashanya who smiled shyly as she blushed. 

Cole seemed displeased but Lili was absolutely fascinated with both of them "That is just so romantic. Cole never does anything romantic for me anymore."

Cole looked panicked and worried and Sashanya saw that and quickly said with a laugh "Oh, we're not that romantic. We're terrible at romance."

Sebastian joined in, helping Sashanya "Yeah, who needs romance anyway? Romance is overrated."

"Yes!" agreed Sashanya seeing Cole's relieved face "Romance is a cliche."

Lili smiled at the both of them and Sashanya and Sebastian let out quiet, relieved sighs as they looked at their menus trying to decide what to order for dinner.

Lili looked at Cole with a loving smile as she began "So I was thinking maybe after dinner we should get a hotel room together, get some room service -"

"No, I really don't want to do that." blurted out Cole immediately and Sashanya jumped into her friend's rescue immediately.

"Because room service can really be dangerous." said Sashanya making up an excuse from the back of her mind and Cole nodded in agreement, thankful that Sashanya had rescued him. "Most people don't know this but ordering room service is basically begging for your own death. I read this article that the cause of death for most couples is getting murdered by room service."

"Wow, I did not know that." said Sebastian looking at Sashanya with interest, amused and impressed at how her mind worked quickly to come up with the most ridiculous excuses to save her friend. 

"That's true." said Cole with a smile at Lili.

Lili smiled at Cole as she took his hand lovingly "You know, when we first started dating, we went on a romantic getaway to Hawaii -"

Cole looked positively scared and Sashanya felt her heart swell up in sympathy for her friend. She knew she had to do something quickly to get Lili to stop talking and she threw the drink menu at the girl as she yelled "Lili! Think fast! Drink Menu!"

The drink menu hit Lili on the arm as she yelled in pain and the menu fell on the floor but it did what Sashanya wanted to. It stopped Lili from talking and instead of focusing on Cole, she glared at Sashanya. 

"I'm sorry, Lili." said Sashanya apologetically "I chucked that right at you. I just thought you really wanted a drink."

"Really? Seems like you wanted to -" began Lili in a snappish voice but she was interrupted by Cole who looked like he was going to explode. 

"That's it. I can't stop myself!" said Cole shaking his head in frustration and panic. 

"SERPENT! SERPENT! SERPENT!" yelled Sebastian trying to be discrete but at the same time in a warning manner. 

Sashanya took one look at Sebastian and slapped him hard on his cheek and Sebastian yelled as he clutched his cheek and look at Sashanya who was smiling politely at Lili and Cole "OWWWW!!!! THAT'S YOUR IDEA OF PULLING OUT ALL THE STOPS?"

"I'm sorry, I panicked!" apologized Sashanya, her eyes wide as she caressed the Sebastian's red cheek gently. 

"What's going on?" asked Lili as she looked at Sebastian and Sashanya and then Cole "Why is everyone acting weird?"

"I want to break it up. I want to break us up." said Cole, the words spilling out of his mouth in hurry and worry. 

At that very moment, the waitress came to their table to take their orders and she smiled brightly at the shocked and forlorn people sitting around the table "Hey everyone! Welcome to the Odyssey Restaurant! Everyone excited to be here? We having a good time?"

Sashanya looked at Lili who looked shock, Cole who looked down in the dumps, Sebastian looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here and Sashanya smiled tightly at the waitress "We are not. Could you give us a moment please?"

There was what seemed like a long, uncomfortable and tense silence and then Lili looked at Cole disbelievingly "You want to break up with me? Why do you want to break up with me?"

Sashanya bit her thumb as she looked at Lili and Cole and Sebastian sipped on his martini while he exchanged 'Oh No!' glances with Sashanya. Cole looked tense and worried, as if he wanted this but didn't want it to be messy and hard. 

"There are so many reasons I want to break up with you." blurted out Cole without thinking and Lili looked taken aback and Sashanya and Sebastian looked at each other with anxious expressions. Cole, then looked at Sashanya and Sebastian "That sounded bad, didn't it?"

Sebastian and Sashanya nodded their heads together silently, not wanting to say anything and get into the middle of this mess and Cole sighed as he looked at Lili and began to speak honestly "Okay, look. There's just no spark between us. I deserve better than you."

Sashanya looked up praying to God to get her out of there while Sebastian looked down at his white, plain, empty plate which he was suddenly finding very interesting. Cole panicked at what he had just said because he wanted to find the words to break up with her politely and nicely but things were going downhill "No, that's too cruel. Look, this is why I wanted to write this down. Can I maybe have like two hours alone with my laptop and get back to you?"

"Great idea." intervened Sashanya who wanted to be anywhere but here and Sebastian smiled tightly as he nodded in approval "And in the mean time - maybe we can have dinner?"

"No, you know what, we should go." said Sebastian uncomfortably as he looked at Sashanya who smiled at him in relief. 

They both were about to get up out of their chairs when Lili's sharp voice addressed them "No. I think you should stay." 

Sashanya and Sebastian who were about to get up, sat down and looked in surprise at Lili who was looking at Sashanya hatefully and Sashanya knew that whatever was going to happen next was not going to be good. "So we can all talk about the real reason why there is a problem in my relationship with Cole which is you .... Sashanya."

Cole looked stricken and scared and Sebastian turned in surprise as he looked at Sashanya who had folded her arms and raised her eyebrows in confusion as she asked pleasantly "I'm sorry - what now?"

"Oh, didn't you know?" asked Lili, smiling at her mockingly "About how he has always liked you more than a friend."

"Okay, that is straight up insanity." said Sashanya laughing but then her laughter stopped the moment she saw Cole's face. 

Cole looked betrayed and hurt. But there was something there, not even Sashanya could deny. 

Heartbreak. 

"From the moment, Cole met you, he was infatuated with you." said Lili hatefully as she glared at Sashanya and Sashanya began to understand why Lili had pushed her away all these years "He has always liked you more than a friend. Are you really that blind? The way he looks at you was the way he used to look at me."

"Lili, please." pleaded Cole, his voice breaking but Lili wasn't done. 

"The way he smiles at you, the way he talks with you, the way he talks about you, the way he laughs at your stupid jokes, the way he treats you as his muse by taking pictures of you! I used to be his muse and now it's you! You stole him from me and you don't even know it!" said Lili, tears shining in her eyes and Sashanya felt terribly guilty and sorry for Lili. 

"Do you know the day you left our show, Cole came home ... he had this awful and heartbroken expression on his face. He locked himself in our bathroom and cried." said Lili as she looked at Cole who looked close to tears and then at Sashanya who looked absolutely shocked "And if you asked me that's when I knew that Cole liked you."

There was a beat of silence and Sashanya finally, properly looked at Cole and asked "Did you?"

Because Sashanya believed Cole's word over Lili's.

Cole looked panicked and heartbroken, and his eyes were suspiciously wet as he admitted in a soft voice "Maybe."

Sashanya looked shocked and Cole confessed the truth "Yes. A little. I mean, I was confused! I mean - I really need to write down my speech right now!"

Sashanya sighed as she put down her napkin and Sebastian cleared his throat "Alright, this is officially way too much for me, so I'm going to just go back to my hotel room. Good night."

Sashanya opened her mouth to protest but Sebastian had already stood up and left. Lili sighed as she looked at Cole sadly and tiredly "Me too. I'm jut going to go home and not cry while watching Notebook."

Then Lili walked away from them fast before both of them could say anything, leaving Cole and Sashanya alone at the table. Sashanya cursed her unlucky stars that Chloe and Camren had been right about this from the start and she wished that she had listened to them instead of coming here and getting caught up in this mess. 

"Well, that's the last time I have dinner with Lili." said Sashanya jokingly, trying to smile but feeling terrible about everything, trying to cut away some of the awkward tension between them and then she scoffed as she sang off tune "DRAAAMMAA!!!"

Then Sashanya met Cole's eyes which were anxious and worried as he bit his lip looking at her and then after a heartbeat, he said painfully "I'm gonna go."

"Yeah, me too." said Sashanya agreeing immediately and stood up and walked out of the restaurant, away from Cole as fast as possible wondering how she had got herself into such a mess and how she was going to untangle herself from it.


End file.
